Did you raise a family this year, Bobby?"
"Mrs. Coon did. We had four of the finest youngsters you have ever
seen over in a certain big hollow tree. They are getting big and
lively now, and go out with their mother every night. I do hope
the hunters will leave them alone this fall. I hate to think of
anything happening to them. If they can just get through the
hunting season safely, I'll enjoy my winter sleep better, and I
know Mrs. Coon will."
At this Johnny Chuck pricked up his ears. "Do you sleep all
winter, Bobby?" he asked eagerly.
"Not all winter, but a good part of it," replied Bobby. "I don't
turn in until the weather gets pretty cold, and it is hard to find
anything to eat. But after the first snow I'm usually ready to
sleep. Then I curl up in a warm bed of leaves in a certain big
hollow tree, and don't care how cold or stormy the weather is.
Sometimes I wake up once or twice, when the weather is mild, and
take a little walk around for exercise. But I don't go far and
soon return to sleep."
"What do you do when Bowser the Hound gets after you?" asked
Peter Rabbit.
"Run till I get out of breath," replied Bobby. "And if by that time
I haven't been able to fool him so that he loses my trail, I take to
a tree. Thank goodness, he can't climb a tree. Sometimes I climb
from the top of one tree into the top of another, and sometimes
into a third and then a fourth, when they are near enough together.
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