hunger. Rats, mice, nuts, berries, birds, insects and eggs are all
devoured by this animal; and when not content with these he does
not hesitate to insinuate himself into the poultry yard, and make
a meal on the fowls and young chickens. His fondness for fruit and
Indian corn often leads him to commit great havoc among plantations
and fruit trees, and his appetite for the fruit of the persimmon tree
is proverbial. While feeding on these fruits he frequently hangs
by his tail, as seen in our illustration, gathering the persimmons
with his fore paws and eating them while thus suspended. He is a
most agile climber, and his tenacity and terminal resources in
this direction are admirably depicted in that well known Methodist
sermon, as follows: "An' you may shake one foot loose, but 'tothers
thar; an' you may shake _all_ his feet loose, but he laps his tail
around the lim' an' he clings forever."

He is an adept at feigning death, "playing 'possum" so skilfully
as frequently to deceive an expert.

"'Possums" are hunted in the Southern States much after the manner
of coons; and to the negroes a "'possum hunt" signifies most unbounded
sport."

Though cunning in many ways, the opossum is singularly simple in
others. There is hardly any animal more easily captured; for it
will walk into the clumsiest of traps, and permit itself to be
ensnared by a device at which an American rat would look with utter
contempt.

[Page 203]
The dead-fall, garrote, or stout snare may all be employed, being
baited with any of the substances already described. The steel
trap 2-1/1 or 3 is most commonly used, being set in the haunts of
the animal, and slightly scented with musk.

See Fox and Beaver, for directions for skinning, stretching, etc.,
etc.

THE RABBIT.

The rabbit or "cotton tail," as he is familiarly termed, is too
well-known to need any description here. From Maine to Texas our
woods abound with these fleet-footed little creatures, of which
there are several American species. They are the swiftest of all
American quadrupeds, and have been known to clear over twenty feet
in a single leap. They are all natural burrowers, although they
often forego the trouble of excavating a home when one can be found
already made, and which can be easily modified or adapted to their
purposes. The common rabbit of New England often makes its home or
"form," beneath a pile of brush or logs, or in crevices in rocks.
Here it brings forth its yo