BLACKBIRD.
II.
SATAN THE RACCOON
During the early years of my hermit-life, I had caged many small animals, such as deer-mice, raccoons, woodchucks, chipmunks, flying-squirrels, stoats, mink, and red and gray squirrels.
RACCOON'S HEAD.
My first captive was an artful old coon. I caught him in a small steel trap, the jaws of which had been wound with cloth as a protection to the foot. The den was under a boulder near the cabin. I set the trap at the mouth of the den and covered it with leaves. The next morning the trap, with clog attached, was missing. There was a trail in the dead leaves easily followed. While following the zigzag trail I was in plain sight of the coon, but he remained quiet until he found that he was discovered, then made frantic efforts to escape. The clog had anchored him securely to some witch-hazel shrubs. He was full of fight, and I had to look out for his teeth and claws. I had brought along a stout piece of duck, which I wrapped around the raccoon, trap and all; thus secure from his wicked teeth and claws, I toted him to the cabin.
It took me two hours to put a strap on his neck. The struggle was a desperate one. Without the duck it would have been a victory for the raccoon. When I had the strap securely fastened and a dog-chain attached, I removed the trap from his foot, then staked him out near the cabin. For two weeks he tried night and day to free himself from collar and chain, then suddenly appeared to be contented.
Instinct plays no part in coon lore. A coon can reason as well as the average human being. My captive proved to be as artful and wicked as Beelzebub himself.
Whenever my back was turned he would be up to all sorts of mischief. When caught red-handed he could put on a look of innocence too comical for anything. By the end of the first month he had got all of my ways of life down fine. If I went into the woods with my gun, on my return he would tear around in his cage anxious for the squirrel he had not seen, but was sure to get. When I went away without the gun, he paid no attention on my return. I do not think he was guided by scent, for sometimes the wind would not be right. Without doubt he connected the gun and squirrel in his mind, and perhaps knew more about a gun than I thought.