A MISCHIEVOUS NEIGHBOR. 207 



there is a snarling scuffle, too vaguely outlined in the 

 light of the moon to enable one to determine the 

 issue ; but the dog evidently knows more about coons' 

 teeth than to his liking, and Marse Coon escapes. 

 Again other dogs catch ap, and there is a big scrap 

 this time just under a gum tree ; but by some quick 

 work with his teeth the coon procures a stay of pro- 

 ceedings, in the midst of which he makes a dart like 

 lightning for the trunk of the tree and gains it with- 

 out another encounter. Up he goes spirally, and soon 

 is lodged in a crotch out of harm's way — " treed." 

 There is instantly more bark — dogs' bark — around 

 that tree than ever was known before in all its his- 

 tory! The coon was more than a match for the 

 dogs. But along comes the hunter with his gun ; 

 and who, however brave, is a match for the gun ? 



The coon is a fair climber, as a glanc'e at his claws 

 will amply testify ; but he is no match in tree-climb- 

 ing for the members of the MustelidoB family— the 

 martens and the weasels — nor for the red squirrel. 

 Indeed, he is not arboreal, in the strict sense of the 

 term, and I very much doubt whether he can be in- 

 cluded among the enemies of the birds without posi- 

 tive injustice to his character. He does not pursue 

 his prey among the tree tops, and is rarely seen in a 

 tree above some crotch in the lower branches. His 

 home, it is true, may be well up in the hollow of a 



