Hudsonian Skunk 973 



If the Skunk digs its own habitation, it usually selects a den 

 dry place on some hillside, but sometimes uses the burrow of 

 a Badger or a Muskrat, or it enlarges the den of a Ground- 

 squirrel to proper dimensions. It is also very ready to use a 

 place under an out-house or farm-building; indeed, any kind of 

 a hole will appeal to the Skunk, provided it be large enough, dry 

 enough, and near enough to food. Kennicott says:^ "Those 

 who have opened the burrows on the prairie say that it digs 

 a hole 5 to ID feet in extent and a foot or two below the surface; 

 at the end a large chamber is excavated, and in this a nest of 

 soft grass is placed. The burrows which I have observed 

 were always on high ground, and usually in sandy soil; they 

 were never at the edges of watercourses and ponds, like those 

 of the Mink. In rocky regions its residence will be found in 

 the crevices of the rocks. * * * I have occasionally known it 

 to take refuge in fallen hollow trees." 



A. S. Barton writes me that the Skunk abounds in the 

 flat marshy country about Boissevain, Man., and that the un- 

 usual conditions there have resulted in a new kind of Skunk 

 architecture. "I found," he says, "a number of Skunk dens 

 on the open meadows one year. They were made like the 

 houses of Muskrats, but much smaller, on dry land, and of 

 fine grass. I thought them the work of some abnormal Musk- 

 rat till I poked a stick in one and provoked the occupant to 

 fire ofi^ his unmistakable scent." 



I have no evidence on the period of gestation. It is likely to young 

 be nearly the same as in the Mink, that is, 42 days. The young 

 are born about the end of April or early in May, and number 

 usually 4 to 6, but have been known as high as 10 in a litter. 



At birth they are about the size of a Mouse, are naked, and 

 yet show plainly, in two shades, the pattern of the livery they 

 are destined to wear. Indeed it is easier to follow the plan of 

 markings now than at any other time. Eyes and ears alike are 

 closed for some days after they enter this world of sights and 

 sounds. 



' hoc. cit., p. 248. 



