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Cave Coon
by Mike DiSalvo
Arnold and I had some sets on a quarry face about half way up. (There is a small ridge about 20 feet across full of brush and brambles). To get to these sets required walking up a 75-degree slope full of loose and stationary rocks. One day while checking a few sets Arnold and I had on the quarry, Arnold informed me that he had caught a coon. I told him that was well and good, "Kill it so we can get off this forsaken cliff", I said.
He followed the drag mark down the cliff face. I was almost to him when he informed me that there was a problem. "What's the problem?” I asked. "Well it seems that the coon has drug the trap and drag into that cave there", he said as he pointed at a small opening in the cliff. "You're kidding me?” I asked hopefully. "Nope", he replied. I looked in the cave mouth and could see the drag (a 15lb. cement block) resting on the floor of the cave. I didn't see the coon however; Arnold said he couldn't see it either. We decided that the coon had escaped the trap. We decided to come back later after checking the rest of our sets in the area. So we checked the rest of our sets, and climbed back up the forsaken cliff face again. Arnold said, "I'll go in and get the trap". I was like "yeah right", there was no way on God's green earth that he was going to fit through the small opening. I informed him that he would never fit. He said "Your right!” and thrust the flashlight into my hand. I had to take my jacket off in order to fit into the opening myself.
Since I had just come from a bright sunny day into a dark cave, I
couldn't
see a dang thing. The flashlight I had was bad at it's best, it would
only
light up about 4 feet in front of you in a dull yellowish light. So I'm
standing there in the cave, which was large when I got into it (I could
almost stand). I started shining the light around and around. Arnold
finally
yelled, "IT'S ON YOUR LEFT." I looked to the left and saw the block, I
grabbed the block and pulled on the wire, thinking the coon was long
since
gone (BAD BAD IDEA). The wire suddenly jerked back into a little cut in
the wall of the cave, with loud growling coming from it. I asked Arnold
to give me the rifle, so I could dispatch the coon. Pay no mind to the
fact that Arnold insists I screamed, "GIMMEEEEEE THE RIFLE!!!!!!!!!!”
in
a scratchy shrieking voice. He's prone to exaggerate, plus it's my
story
and I'll tell it anyway I want. Arnold did give me the rifle, and I
found
the coon and dispatched it. The coon had the chain and wire all snagged
up in cracks in the cave floor. I didn't know that at the time however.
I finally got the wire and chain all unsnagged and took the dead coon
from
the trap. When I climbed out of the cave, I was blinded by the sunlight
and my ears were ringing (firing a rifle inside a cave doesn't do much
for you), and my heart rate was up. I informed Arnold that he had
better
lose some weight. "Why?” he asked. I told him, "Because if another
$%^@~*$
coon of yours goes into a cave your going in after it." He laughed, and
so did I. We headed down the cliff and back to the truck, heck we still
had more sets to check.