27 



also annoyed trappers greatly by following lines of traps of other 

 kinds and stealing the bait, without getting caught. 



Raccoon or Coon, Procyon Lotor Linn. 



Found in considerable numbers in many parts of the State. 

 Abundant in the larger forests. A lover of roasting-ears. Coon- 

 huniing by night with dogs, ax and gun has furnislied dellgxitVul 

 sport to the boys and men of almost every rural district. The fur 

 is valuable. 



Black Bear, TJrsxis americanus Pallas. 



Once common but now restricted, as a rule, to the forest-cover- 

 ed mountains. Stragglers are occasionally seen in the more 

 populous farming districts where their presence causes great local 

 excitement. 



The bear was an animal of considerable economic importance to 

 the early settler. It furnished him with fur and meat and in re- 

 turn killed his pigs, sheep and other live stock. Reports of de- 

 predations in farming districts situated near to large wooded 

 tracts are still heard. Twenty-five sheep belonging to Mr. W. 0. 

 Johnson were killed by bears in the Caanan valley in the year 

 1908. 



Common Shrew or Masked Shrew, Sorex personatus Geoff. S. H. 



Found in marshy places and damp woods in the higher parts o? 

 the State. I have collected it at Pickens, French Creek and Cran- 

 berry Glades. 



This is the smallest of our mammals. Including its relatively 

 long tail, it measures only a little over four inches in length. 

 Most of its life is spent under ground. Its food is chiefly insects 

 and other low forms of animal life. Like all the shrews, this 

 species may be regarded as being beneficial on account of tlit in- 

 jurious insects which it devours. 



Smoky Shrews, Sorex fumeiis Miller. 



This shrew has been taken wherever I have trapped in suitable 



