Skunk 



two with a coat of coarse brownish grizzled fur, head and nape 

 grizzled, grayish, rufous white. The fur is prime at two years, 

 though the animal is not full-grown until its fourth or fifth year. 

 "The sea otter mother sleeps in the water on her back, 

 with her young clasped between her fore-paws. The pup can- 

 not live without its mother. Their food is almost entirely com- 

 posed of clams, mussels and sea urchins, of which they are very 

 fond and which they break up by striking the shells together, 

 held in each fore-paw, sucking out the contents as they are 

 fractured by these efforts. They also undoubtedly eat crabs and 

 fish, and the juicy, tender fronds of kelp. They are not polyga- 

 mous, and more than one individual is seldom seen at a time 

 when out at sea. They are playful, it would seem, for I am 

 assured by several old hunters that they have watched the sea- 

 otter for half an hour as it lay upon its back in the water, and 

 tossed a piece of sea-weed in the air from paw to paw, ap- 

 parently taking great delight in catching it before it could fall 

 into the water." 



Varieties of the Otter 



1. Northern Otter. Lutra canadensis Schreber. Description and 



range as above. 



2. Carolina Otter. L. canadensis lataxina (Cuvier). Much lighter 



brown, becoming pale grayish brown on the throat 

 Range. Lower Middle and South Atlantic States. 



3. Florida Otter. L. canadensis -vaga Bangs. Darker and redder 



than the last but not so black as the Northern otter, almost 

 as dark below as above. 



Range. Florida, southern Georgia and along the Gulf Coast 

 to Louisiana. 



4. Newfoundland Otter. L. degener. Bangs. Very dark, prac- 



tically black with brown reflections. Size smaller than 

 any of the preceding. 



Skunk 



Mephitis putida (Cuvier) 



Called also Polecat. 



Length. 2 feet. 



Description. Body covered with long hair, tail very large and 

 bushy; colour black with a white patch on the back of the 

 neck, from which two stripes extend do\vn the back and 



224 



