134 



MAMMALS OF AMERICA 



from the ground the power of spraying the 

 essence is apparently lost. It takes a steady- 

 nerve to approach an old Skunk and lift it by the 

 tail, and although I have heard of several in- 

 stances, I have but once actually seen it ac- 

 complished. 



If the young are captured while small and are 

 constantly handled and petted, they show a con- 

 siderable degree of affection, and at times are 

 very playful. Dr. C. Hart Merriam tells the 

 following story about one of his Skunks, 

 " Meph ": " His nest was in a box at the foot of 



Photograph In W. L, luiliv 



A NERVE TESTER 



Hold a Skunk by the tail and he is harmless - 

 get there quickly enough 



■ that is, if you 



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 upstairs. If I passed by without ap- 

 pearing to notice him, he invariably became 

 much enraged and chippered away at a great 

 rate, stamping meanwhile most vigorously. Dur- 

 ing the evening he occasionally assumed a play- 

 ful mood and would steal softly 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, ready to try some new scheme 

 to attract my attention." 



Skunks have no way of expressing their joy, 

 like the cat or dog, for the young and old alike 

 are nearly voiceless, with the exception of an 

 occasional little squealing or grunting noise. 



The Skunk lives upon animal food, but in 

 summer it is largely made up of insects, in par- 

 ticular grasshoppers. The number of insects a 

 single one will destroy is beyond comprehension. 

 The Skunk is one of the most efficient aids of the 

 agriculturist, yet, when he takes up his abode 

 under the barn, there is sure to be trouble among 

 the fowls unless they are well housed, the great- 

 est loss being among chickens. The mother 

 hen may have a dozen little ones tucked away 

 at night under protecting wings, and before 

 morning a skillful paw may remove half the 

 number, or more, leaving only the slightest trace 

 of their unhappy end. The location of the 

 mother hen and her remaining chickens must be 

 changed, for Mr. Skunk will continue his nightly 

 visits until the whole family is devoured. Other 

 domestic fowls suffer in much the same way 

 from such depredations. The ground-nesting 

 birds probably pay a heavy tribute, both in eggs 

 and in young, to this robber of the poultry yard. 

 The few chickens he may destroy ( not one 

 .Skunk in 500 ever tastes chicken) is small com- 

 pensation for the destruction of field mice, 

 beetles, and various forms of vermin, yet he is 

 killed by the average farmer, whose prejudice 

 is only exceeded by his ignorance of this most 

 beneficial animal. 



Again, the Skunk is particularly valuable in 

 the hop regions, where he hunts the large grubs 

 so destructive to the bop-roots. On a spring 

 morning as you pass through the hop-yard you 

 may notice numerous holes about the hop-hills. 

 These indicate the industry of the nocturnal 

 visitor. 



There is a general belief that the Sk^mk 

 hibernates during the winter. It does hibernate, 

 but the period of hibernation is not as continu- 

 ous or deep as in the case of many animals. The 

 period of rest is broken several times during the 

 winter, whenever the weather becomes mild for 

 two or three days at a time. This season of 

 inactivity becomes more pronounced the farther 

 north we go, but the degree of it corresponds 

 with the severity of the weather. 



S. .-X. LoTTKin(;E. 



