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Night hunters - this picture is courtesy of Oliver Hartley's Hunting Dogs,
a book you can read for free at Project Gutenberg.
Hartley published the book in 1909. |
Several months ago, I shared a folktale that my father-in-law had written down. In that very short story, "Uncle John" and "Uncle Jim" jump a train to Mt. Sterling and later end up climbing trees to avoid what they believe is a rabid dog. If you missed that tale, you can read it here. Well, our protagonists are back once again, and this time they've gone coon hunting!
From the journals:
In days past it was a custom for men and boys to hunt
with dogs at night. On those forays
through pastures and woods, the dogs would “tree” varmints either in dens or up
trees. The word “varmint” was used to
cover most any wild animal found in the county, such as ‘possums, skunks,
weasels, minks, coons, and muskrats. It
was a sport that could supply much entertainment and some monetary income.
It was something to look forward to and enjoy. Some hunters would take a snack with them and
maybe even roast some corn over an open fire.
Occasionally the dogs would catch a varmint on the ground and often the
animal would be a skunk.
Uncle John and Uncle Jim enjoyed hunting with their
dogs at night and spent many enjoyable evenings in quest of varmints. One night the dogs treed a varmint in a den
under a rock ledge. Uncle John reached
back under the ledge and could just barely touch the tail of the animal. He suggested that Uncle Jim should reach in
and get the varmint. Uncle Jim stretched
and could just reach the animal but suddenly jerked his hand back.
Uncle John questioned, “What’s wrong?”
Uncle Jim retorted, “He swapped ends!”
Hope you enjoyed that little tale. Hopefully, I'll be back with much more soon. We're still working on the book, but we've all had a lot going on, and that's been put on hold for a while. ~Ginger
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You don't have to go coon hunting to enjoy roasted ears of corn.
You can use your grill or even the gas burner on your stove. |
Labels: Folk Tales