Hudsonian Skunk 983 



"His nest was in a box near the foot of the stairs, and 

 before he grew strong enough to climb out by himself he would, 

 whenever he heard me coming, stand on his hind-legs, with his 

 paws resting on the edge of the box, and beg to be carried up- 

 stairs. If I passed by without appearing to notice him, he 

 invariably became much enraged and chippered and scolded 

 away at a great rate, stamping, meanwhile, most vehemently. 

 He always liked to be carried up to my office, and as soon as 

 strong enough would climb up of his own accord. He was 

 very sprightly and frolicsome, and used to hop about the floor 

 and run from room to room in search of something to play with, 

 and frequently amused himself by attempting to demolish my 

 slippers. I have often given him a bit of old sponge with a 

 string attached, in order to keep him out of mischief. During 

 the evening he occasionally assumed a cunning mood, and 

 would steal softly up to my chair and, standing erect, would 

 claw at my pants once or twice, and then scamper off as fast as 

 his little legs could carry him, evidently anxious to have me 

 give chase. If I refused to follow, he was soon back to try a 

 new scheme to attract my attention." 



Skunks can bite when necessary and are credited with fight- 

 having occasionally transmitted hydrophobia, much as any 

 other carnivore might. When they fight among themselves 

 they are said to observe an unwritten law to abstain from 

 using the musk. Evidently it would be wasted in such a 

 combat. It would be like two ducks splashing each other. 

 A Skunk fight is said, then, to be strictly one of tooth and claw. 

 I never witnessed one, but the following detailed case repre- 

 sents several that I have heard of. 



About the end of February, 1903, at Welch, Minn., Lee R. 

 Gridley, of Appleton, Wis., was out with another trapper. 

 They were following a Skunk track, and presently came on the 

 animal fighting desperately with another of its kind. The 

 Skunks struggled for a minute or two in silence, and neither of 

 them used his musk. The trappers came up and killed one 

 of the combatants; it was a male. The other escaped — doubt- 



