Coon Huntin'

Last night, we packed up extra pairs of clothes, PJs, and our toothbrushes, and headed off to the Coons' Den, a wildlife reserve where you can train your dogs to hunt coons. We met my grandpa there; he had his four dogs with him- a Treeing Walker Coondog named Harry, two Blueticks named Blufus and Brumley, and a squirrel dog named Jake. (By the way, we raised Harry and Blufus from puppies.) Grandpa had a coon in a barrel, and let it loose. The dogs had it up the nearest tree before you could say "Get 'em!" That night, we walked around the 15 acres by the moonlight. I was walking slightly ahead of everybody, and saw what Blufus had found first. There was a possom (I know that's not how you spell it!) stuck between the elctric fence and a epice of sheet metal that was pinned to the fence. My grandpa and my mom both pulled the metal back, and Grandpa eased the possom out with a stick. Blufus gently took the playing-dead possom in her jaws and carried it off to who knows where. We went back to the lodge, telling stories and playing the guitar for a while, then curled up in our sleepingbags and went to bed. Once before we were asleep, we heard the dogs barking and tracked the noise, only to find that they'd treed another possom. Whether it was the same one, I'll never know. We went back to bed. I stayed awake for a while, listening to the barking of dogs and chirping of crickets, then fell sound asleep. I woke the next morning to the sound of a rooster crowing in the distance (a comforting sound). We packed up our stuff and took one last trip around the area. The dogs found one coon that was curled up in a tree and wouldn't give us the time of day. Also, Jake and Blufus found the possom again (playing dead), and finally they left him alone and he scampered off, trying to find a way out. It was a very fun time, but I'm really tired after the whole thing!!