206 FAMILIAR LIFE IN FIELD AND FOREST. 



Coon's face. 



trap with a cliicken leg or a bit of toasted codfish, 

 and -there he is the next morning, poor frightened 

 beast, with a sinister expression on 

 his pretty face. There is nothing 

 in all Nature so striking as the black 

 setting of his eyes with the sur- 

 rounding ring of white. There is 

 an appealing look in the creature's 

 face, despite his threatening aspect. Who is cold- 

 blooded enough to kill him ? 



Coon-hunting in the South, however, by moonlight, 

 seems to be a regular institution. When the com is 

 ripe in September, " Marse Coon " steps into the field 

 as the shades of evening have deepened and helps 

 himself to a few choice ears, stripping them of their 

 husks with his dainty fore paws quite as well as a 

 pretty girl with deft finger* dnc« it 

 a corn-husking. He is ver\ 

 fond of the succulent, 

 milky kernels, and very 

 handy with his paws ; but, 

 alas ! he is so preoccupied 

 with his feasting that tin 

 wretched dogs are soon upon his 

 scent, and close upon his heels 

 before he has realized his danger. He runs for his 

 life, but one of the dogs is at him, and in an instant 



Coon eating corn. 



