X A LITTLE BROTHER OF THE BEAR 293 



and squatting down snarls at the stranger, who 

 tries to shake loose its hold. But this is a vain 

 attempt. A raccoon can cling like a burr. Try to 

 drag your pet 'coon off the top of a fence, and if 

 he chooses to resist, you may pull him limb from 

 limb before he will let go. So they take the severer 

 method of chopping the branches, until the poor 

 little beast has none left to clutch in falling, and 

 comes down a heap of fur and teeth and claws into 

 the midst of the dogs. Instantly there follows a 

 scrimmage, where often an honest bark is changed 

 in the middle to a yelp of pain, until many a time 

 the mSl^e changes to a ring of hurt and angry but 

 vanquished curs around a 'coon lying on his back, 

 with bloody teeth and claws ready to try it again ; 

 and then he is shot by the hunters, merciless to the 

 last. More often the whole tree must be cut down, 

 and the brave 'coon falls with it, and is dashed out 

 among his enemies to fight for his life at the end 

 of his fall. If meanwhile a large 'possum has been 

 taken alive, he is usually pitted against the 'coon, 

 and it is even betting which will win. This noc- 

 turnal foray, where the prey may be either an 

 opossum or a raccoon, or perhaps both, and now 

 and then a bear, is especially the sport of the 

 Southern negroes, who have got the name " coons " 

 in consequence, — that is, 'coon-hunters. 



Young ones taken on these expeditions or in 

 traps — spring-traps are said to be most effective 

 when set under water, beside some lily-coated frog 



