page [15] (seq. 16)

15
1900
Feb. 21
to Mar. 10
(10)

do curl up, they show nothing but a round
ball of fur.

Two cages contain Mink. They are fierce
little animals, graceful in movement.

A large, broad, tall wire cage with
an oak tree, 4 to 5 inches through at base
and about 15 feet high planted in the cen-
ter, contains twelve Raccoons. This
cage is always surrounded by an
amused crowd. The Coons are almost
always up in the tree, resting in the
most astonishing attitudes. One will
crawl out to the end of a bare branch
about three quarters of an inch thick
and in a fork at the end will roll
himself up, in an apparently, absolutely
untenable positon and go to sleep!
A Coon will rest in perfect security
and comfort in any kind of a fork.
I saw one hanging asleep from a
fork with the head and front legs
in the fork, and the entire rest of the
body hanging down. He looked as if he
were dead. It was amusing to see
one try to oust another from a
good place. Sometimes a bunch
of three or four would get into a
single large fork and form one
indistinguishable ball of coon fur.
I never saw creatures more at home
in a tree than the Raccoon.