Barking up the wrong tree

"Barking up the wrong tree" is a term which has its origins in 19th-century raccoon-hunting.

Raccoons are nocturnal creatures so were pursued at night. Hunting dogs were dispatched to give chase and a persecuted raccoon would invariably end up seeking refuge up a tree.

The dog would then wait at the foot of the tree and keep barking so that the huntsmen, following up behind, would home in on the noise and come and shoot the poor victim down from the branches.

Often, however, in the darkness above, the raccoon would scramble on to the branches of an adjacent tree and skedaddle off into the night - thereby leaving the outwitted dog barking up the wrong tree.