208 FAMILIAR LIFE IN FIELD AND FOREST. 



dead limb, but his hunting expeditions are mostly 

 made on terra firma. 



Remarkably bright and winning in manners when 

 tamed, the coon enjoys special privileges as a pet. 

 He is frequently given the freedom of the house, as 

 he never attempts to run away ; but the consequences 

 of his freedom are sometimes disastrous to the house- 

 keeper. He is the very soul of mischief, and his 

 curiosity has no bounds ; nothing within reach is safe 

 from his meddlesome fingers, and woe unto the 

 kitchen pantry which he enters ! Like his cousin the 

 black bear, he is especially fond of " sweets." Mo- 

 lasses, sugar, preserves, and cake — everything, he 

 samples them all with infinite satisfaction, and scat- 

 ters the remains of his feast with a noble disregard 

 for consequences. Sugar, milk, lard, butter, and 

 broken eggs cover the shelves and mix together in 

 such generous quantities that only the hot oven is 

 needed to convert the mess into some nameless kind 

 of cake ! It is not an agreeable sight for the house- 

 keeper to enter the pantry and surprise the pet coon 

 seated in the sugar barrel and oozing molasses at the 

 tip of every hair. 



But I do not exaggerate : he is on record as having 

 done all these things. It does not make much differ- 

 ence where he is, his propensity for mischief finds a 

 suflicient means for exercise. The last coon I made 



