While a lot of people arenât aware of East Texas folks and others are not even aware of East Texas, there are a lot of similarities between the Cajun folks in the swamps and bayous of Louisiana and the red neck folks of the bayous, thickets, and swamps of East Texas.
While it might bother others, it didnât make a bit of difference to Roger and Peattie, not as long as they had their moonshine, coon dogs and the time to fish and go coon hunting, things were pert near perfect!
It had been raining for a solid two weeks and had caused the boys to languish at home, quite unhappy with the inactivity. Even their dogs were would let them know they were not happy either, saying in so many words, âWhatâs goin on? Get with the program and let us go hunting!â Now, mind you this was not in any recognizable language, but these dogs could and did communicate with their disgust at their inactivity.
Well, it finally stayed clear and calm for about a week, and so Roger and Peattie decided that nothing would do but to take their john boat, dogs, and go coon hunting since it had been too long since they had had a fun night in the bayous. So, they loaded the 14 foot john boat to the back of Rogerâs pick up and the dogs, once allowed out knew their job, they ran around and jumped into the back of the truck without any call or command.
Now I cannot tell you just were this place is, because it is in the deepest, darkest part of the pine forest and with winding bayous all through the place, but also one where one might even encounter a panther, or even a bear, and certainly many other wild creatures. They have unloaded the boat just about dark, get in and are slowly drifting down the bayou and have not even started their small outboard motor. They were being quiet on purpose so they can hear any of their hounds who might sound out if they hit the scent trail of a coon, which was their quarry for the evening.
Roger, who is seated in the very back and who ordinarily runs the outboard motor, had affixed the alligator clips on the 12-volt battery that powered their spotlights. They continued to listen and finally one of the hounds sound off. Peattie said, âThatâs ole Suzie, I think sheâs on to a coon.â Directly, another hound sounds off but from a direction, and traveling away from the first dogâs voice. âWell, sounds like Jake disagrees, from what I hear.â Both guys agreed that they were hearing two different reports, perhaps they were both on different coons. Both men waited patiently since this often happened early in the night when they were just getting started.
They float on down the meandering bayou listening on the reports of the tracking dogs. Now there was nothing more from Jake, who had either given up and joined the others with Suzie, who was always considered to have a reliable nose and determined tracker. For a while now, there was no report at all. Then several all together were chiming in with a swelling crescendo and were headed back directly toward where they were.
Both men switched on their spotlights to see if they could catch a glimpse of what the dogs were trailing, and if possible, see whether it was a coon or something else. There had been reports of some bobcats being chased lately and this might be the night they would encounter one themselves.
The dogs were definitely getting closer and the suddenly, as their boat was passing under a large tree that had fallen partially over the stream, a big and agitated coon runs upon to the overhanging limb, and no more than a few seconds the lead dogs, with Suzie are on top of them too. The hounds are not able to climb the tree but do begin jump into the john boat and are barking in a loud chorus and attempting to jump up to take a bite of the coon just inches above Peattieâs cap.
In a flash, one of the hounds does manage to get a grip on the coon who then falls off the limb where it had sought shelter and it lands on Peattieâs head. Now the hounds are really baying, and all are trying to attack the animal at once.
Peattie is hollering, HOOOOE, GET IT Off, GET IT OFF! As this scene unfolds, Roger is laughing so hard he falls over backwards and knocks all the alligator clips off the battery, causing the entire scene to go black. While no one can see, it does not stop all the hounds from continuing to bellow at full voice, Peattie to scream, GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF ME! HOOEE! HELP ME, GET IT OFF!
Finally, Roger recovers enough to get the clips replaced and the lights back on, which gives the coon an opportunity to jump back upon the tree and run on across the narrow bayou and disappear into the night, with the hounds right behind it. Roger and Peattie never knew whether they were able to catch this coon or not. They assumed it had climbed a tall tree and thus escaped their hounds for good.
One never knows what you will encounter in the East Texas swamps and forests, Peattie, after recovering from his shock, and wiping the scratches on his face and neck with a handkerchief said, âWell, I am just glad it wasnât a bobcat or a bear!
Just SayinâŠRJS
While a lot of people arenât aware of East Texas f... (
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