among the willows, fired as fast as they could load their pieces. Several times the bear was struck, but each shot seemed only to direct his fury towards the hunter; at last he pursued them so closely, that they threw aside their guns and pouches, and jumped from a perpendicular bank twenty feet high into the river. The bear sprang after them, and was very near the hindmost man, when one of the hunters on the shore shot him through the head and finally killed him. When they dragged him on shore, they found that eight balls had passed through his body in different directions.
On another occasion, the same enterprising travellers met with the largest bear of this species they had ever seen; when they fired he did not attempt to attack, but fled with a tremendous roar, and such was his tenacity of life, that although five balls had passed through the lungs, and five other wounds were inflicted, he swam more than half across the river to a sand-bar, and survived more than twenty minutes.
Mr. John Dougherty, a very experienced and respectable hunter, who accompanied Major Long’s party during their expedition to the Rocky Mountains, several times very narrowly escaped from the grizzly bear. Once, while hunting with another person on one of the upper tributaries of the Missouri, he heard the report of his companion’s rifle, and when he looked round, beheld him at a short distance endeavoring to escape from one of these bears, which he had wounded as it was coming towards him. Dougherty, forgetful of every thing but the preservation of his friend, hastened to call off the attention of the bear, and arrived in rifle shot distance just in time to effect his generous purpose. He discharged his ball at the animal, and was obliged in his turn to fly; his friend relieved from immediate danger, prepared for another attack by charging his rifle, with which he again wounded the bear, and saved Mr. D. from further peril. Neither received any injury from this encounter, in which the bear was at length killed.
The Raccoon.—This animal continues to be frequently found even in the populous parts of the United States. Occasionally their numbers are so much increased, as to render them very troublesome to the farmers in the low and wooded parts of Maryland, bordering on the Chesapeak Bay. Being peculiarly fond of sweet substances, they are sometimes destructive to plantations of sugar-cane, and of Indian corn. While the ear of this corn is still young and tender, it is very sweet, and at that time troops of raccoons frequently enter fields of maize, and in a single night commit the most extensive depredations.
Raccoon.
The size of the raccoon varies with the age and sex of the individual. When full grown, the male is about a foot in length, or a few inches longer; the highest part of the back is about a foot from the ground, whilst the highest part of the shoulder is ten inches. The head is about five inches, and the tail rather more than eight. The general color of the body is a blackish gray, which is paler on the under part. The feet have five toes each, terminated by strong curved and pointed claws; and each foot is furnished with five thick and very elastic tubercles beneath. The fur of the raccoon forms an article of considerable value in commerce, as it is extensively used in the manufacture of hats.
‘The raccoon,’ says Godman, ‘is an excellent climber, and his strong sharp claws effectually secure him from being shaken off the branches of trees. In fact, so tenaciously does this animal hold to any surface upon which it can make an impression with its claws, that it requires a considerable exertion of a man’s strength to drag him off; and as long as even a single foot remains attached, he continues to cling with great force. I have had frequent occasion to pull a raccoon from the top of a board fence, where there was no projection which he could seize by; yet, such was the power and obstinacy with which the points of his claws were stuck into the board, as repeatedly to oblige me to desist for fear of tearing his skin, or otherwise doing him an injury by the violence necessary to detach his hold.’
‘Water seems to be essential to their comfort, if not of absolute necessity for the preparation of their food. I have had for some time, and at the moment of writing this have yet, a male and female raccoon in the yard. Their greatest delight appears to be dabbling in water, of which a large tub is always kept for their use. They are frequently seen sitting on the edge of this tub, very busily engaged in playing with a piece of broken china, glass, or a small cake of ice. When they have any substance which sinks, they both paddle with their fore feet with great eagerness, until it is caught, and then it is held by one, with both paws, and rubbed between them; or a struggle ensues for the possession of it, and when it is dropped the same sport is renewed. The coldest weather in winter does not in the least deter them from thus dabbling in the water for amusement; nor has this action much reference to their feeding, as it is performed at any time, even directly after feeding till satiated. I have frequently broken the ice on the surface of their tub, late at night, in the very coldest winter weather, and they have both left their sleeping place with much alacrity, to stand paddling the fragments of ice about, with their fore legs in the water nearly up to the breast. Indeed, these animals have never evinced the slightest dislike to cold, or suffered in any degree therefrom; they have in all weathers slept in a flour-barrel thrown on its side, with one end entirely open, and without any material of which to make a bed. They show no repugnance to being sprinkled or dashed with water, and voluntarily remain exposed to the rain or snow, which wets them thoroughly, notwithstanding their long hair, which, being almost erect, is not well suited to turn the rain. These raccoons are very fond of each other, and express the greatest delight on meeting, after having been separated for a short time, by various movements, and by hugging and rolling one another about on the ground.’
‘My raccoons are, at the time of writing this, more than a year old, and have been in captivity for six or eight months. They are very frolicsome and amusing, and show no disposition to bite or injure any one, except when accidentally trodden on. They are equally free from any disposition to injure children, as has been observed of other individuals. We frequently turn them loose in the parlor, and they appear to be highly delighted, romping with each other and the children, without doing any injury even to the youngest. Their alleged disposition to hurt children especially, may probably be fairly explained by the fact above mentioned, that they always attempt to bite when suddenly hurt, and few children touch animals without pinching or hurting them. They exhibit this spirit of retaliation, not only to man, but when they accidentally hurt themselves against an inanimate body; I have many times been amused to observe the expression of spite with which one of them has sprung at and bit the leg of a chair or table, after knocking himself against it so as to hurt some part of his body.
‘These animals may be tamed while young, but as they grow to maturity, most generally become fierce and even dangerous. I have had one so tame as to follow a servant about through the house or streets, though entirely at liberty; this was quite young when obtained, and grew so fond of human society as to complain very loudly, by a sort of chirping or whining noise, when left alone. Nothing can possibly exceed the domesticated raccoon in restless and mischievous curiosity, if suffered to go about the house. Every chink is ransacked, every article of furniture explored, and the neglect of servants to secure closet doors, is sure to be followed by extensive mischief, the evil being almost uniformly augmented by the alarm caused to the author of it, whose ill-directed efforts to escape from supposed peril, increase at the same time the noise and the destruction.’
The Puma, or American Lion was once spread over the new world, from Canada to Patagonia, but it is not now common in any part of the United States, except the unsettled districts. It is usually called the panther, or painter by the common people. It is also called the catamount. The progress of civilization has, however, circumscribed his range, and has rooted him out in many places. Notwithstanding his size and strength, he is cowardly; and, like almost all cowards, he is sanguinary. If he find a flock of sheep unprotected, he will destroy the whole, merely that he may enjoy the luxury of sucking their blood. He has a small rounded head, a broad and rather obtuse muzzle, and a body which, in proportion, is slenderer and less elevated than that of his more dignified namesake. ‘The upper parts of his body,’ says Mr. Bennett, ‘are of a bright silvery fawn, the tawny hairs being terminated by whitish
