454 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 84 



MEPHITIS MEPHITIS ELONGATA Bangs 



Florida Skunk 



To this species Howell (1901, p. 28) has referred skunks taken in 

 the eastern part of the State. He considers that they are fairly- 

 typical with the exception of slightly shorter tails. In October 1896 

 Fred E. Brooks (1911, p. 24) found one lying dead on a path through 

 the dense spruce woods on the summit of Black Mountain. Brooks 

 also says that skunks were abundant in the vicinity of Cranberry 

 Glades during the winter of 1908-1909. 

 Pocahontas County: Green Bank, 1; Travellers Repose, 2. 



MEPHITIS MEPHITIS NIGRA (Peale and Beauvois) 



Eastern Skunk 



A female from Cabell County in the Ohio River drainage and a 

 male from Raleigh County seem to agree more closely with the com- 

 mon eastern skunk. This species has been recorded (A. B. Brooks, 

 1929, p. 542) also at Oglebay Park, Ohio County. wSkunks were 

 fairly common in Nicholas County during 1936. On May 7, 1936, 

 a skunk that had been run over by an automobile was found in the 

 road near Middleton. Numerous skunks are reported to be trapped 

 each year on the rock ledges in the vicinity of Philippi, Barbour 

 County. 



Cabell County: Barboursville, 1. 



Raleigh County: Odd, altitude 2,900 feet, 1. 



Family CANIDAE 



VULPES FULVA FULVA (Desmarest) 



Red Fox 



According to early hunters and settlers, red foxes first made their 

 appearance in West Virginia more than a century ago and invaded 

 the State from the north (Brooks, 1911, p. 23). Pioneer settlers have 

 repeatedly stated that they found only gray foxes. The red fox, 

 according to information obtained in 1936, is quite rare in many 

 sections. On the other hand, A. B. Brooks (1929, p. 542) reported 

 that the range of this species covers all of West Virginia. William 

 Bolton told W. M. Perrygo that he had trapped red foxes near Phihppi 

 in Barbour County. Local trappers in the vicinity of Black Moun- 

 tain say that red foxes are occasionally trapped in Pocahontas County, 

 According to Arthur H. Wood, forest supervisor, red foxes are fairly 

 well distributed over the entire Monongahela National Forest and 

 are somewhat more numerous in the northern hardwood tracts. 

 Calculations based on tally counts made during periodical drives on 

 twel-«'« 160-acre plots within the forest indicate a mean abundance of 



