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| Raccoons by the river-bed. |
Have you ever seen a Raccoon? Perhaps you would understand better if you were asked, have you ever seen a coon? This curious animal is a living lesson to all boys and girls. It is the cleanest little animal known. It keeps its fur spotless, and carefully washes every bit of food before eating it. It has no table to come to with dirty hands, but, nevertheless, takes pride in keeping itself, oh, so clean! Its paws are hand-shaped, which gives it a strong grip on anything it wishes to hold, and this is very useful to Master Coon when he is busily washing a piece of meat back and forth in the water.
If the coon is treated kindly, it will become very tame. A gentleman kept one in his yard with a number of other wild animals, and the coon was by far the tamest, being allowed to run about; but, at the same time, all the chickens had to be kept out of its way, for it had a habit of killing them wholesale. It is said that the raccoon is rather a spiteful animal, and will store up a grudge against anyone who has insulted it.
The raccoon roams over the sea-shore at night in search of shell-fish and oysters. It is quite clever at opening the latter. Sometimes it is unlucky enough to get a foot caught by an oyster, and then it is drowned in the rising tide.
Long ago people in the Southern States of the U.S. thought a coon-hunt great fun. They would walk quietly through the woods until a coon was located in a tree. Then one of their hunting party would climb up into the branches and shake the poor little creature off its perch. As it fell to the ground it was set upon by the men and dogs, who soon kill it. The flesh of the raccoon is considered very good to eat, while its skin made beautiful fur clothing. However, it is seldom hunted for meat or fur today.
If the coon is treated kindly, it will become very tame. A gentleman kept one in his yard with a number of other wild animals, and the coon was by far the tamest, being allowed to run about; but, at the same time, all the chickens had to be kept out of its way, for it had a habit of killing them wholesale. It is said that the raccoon is rather a spiteful animal, and will store up a grudge against anyone who has insulted it.
The raccoon roams over the sea-shore at night in search of shell-fish and oysters. It is quite clever at opening the latter. Sometimes it is unlucky enough to get a foot caught by an oyster, and then it is drowned in the rising tide.
Long ago people in the Southern States of the U.S. thought a coon-hunt great fun. They would walk quietly through the woods until a coon was located in a tree. Then one of their hunting party would climb up into the branches and shake the poor little creature off its perch. As it fell to the ground it was set upon by the men and dogs, who soon kill it. The flesh of the raccoon is considered very good to eat, while its skin made beautiful fur clothing. However, it is seldom hunted for meat or fur today.
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