The Raccoon's Tale

Once there was a raccoon named Dale. Dale lived in a tree with his mother, Sonja, and his mother's sister Dorothy. Together, the three were company.

Early one autumn, Dale was irritated at the thought of spending a seventh winter cooped-up with his mother and aunt, so he climbed down the trunk of the tree to the forest floor below. When he arrived on the ground, he was greeted instantly by a young human boy of about 10, who, armed with a crossbow, made short work of Dale and procured for himself material for his first coon-skinned cap.

Incidentally, the hunter, whose name was Jerry Kocher, lived to be an old, old man, and he wore the cap made from Dale's skin each day during the cold winter months of January and February in Southern Illinois, and occasionally, on cool mornings in early June.