98 ANIMAL LIFE OF CARLSBAD CAVERN 



The long-tailed skunk has two broad white stripes 

 along the sides of the back, meeting over the neck and 

 shoulders and on the sides of the tail, and a narrow 

 white stripe down the face; the rest of the body is shiny 

 black; the odor is as strong and characteristic as the 

 color and pattern. 



HOG-NOSED SKUNK 



Conepatus mesoleucus mearnsi (Fig. 86) 



A fine old male of this big species, with long nose, 

 solid white back, and bushy white tail, was taken at an 

 old goat camp in Walnut Canyon, a mile and a half from 

 the cavern. It had been digging deep holes in the 

 old manure of the goat corral in search of big fat 

 " grub-worms, " larvae of a Lachnosterna beetle, which 

 were the only food found in its alimentary canal. The 

 large round beetle burrows leading straight down into 

 the manure were the size of my finger, and with the 

 help of his long bare nose the skunk could probably tell 

 before he began to dig whether a fat grub was to be 

 found at the bottom. Most of the burrows went down 

 about a foot, and I learned by digging that the beetle 

 larvae were common at this depth. The skunk taken 

 was only moderately fat, but weighed nine pounds, a 

 weight not equaled by any of the other skunks unless 

 excessively fat. It was coaxed into a joint of stove- 

 pipe, given a dose of ether, and photographed while 

 under the effects and after it had partly recovered; but 

 when fully recovered and closely pursued, it discharged 

 its powerfully repellent battery so vigorously that 



