578 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



the: common woodcituck, or amf.rican 

 MARMOT (see pages 533-534) 



Its track shows this animal's kinship with 

 the squirrels. The small series, to the left, 

 show the ordinary ambling pace. Wlien speed- 

 ing, it sets its feet mucli like the little, or east- 

 ern, chipmunk (see page 580). 



ted skunks, is distinguished from all other 

 mammals by the curious and pleasing sym- 

 metry of the black and white markings of the 

 animals. Few more beautiful fur garments arc 

 made than those from the skins of these ani- 

 mals in their natural colors. These skunks are 

 smaller than any members of the other groups. 



varying from a little larger than a large chip- 

 munk to the size of a fox squirrel. 



Little spotted skvmks include several species 

 and geographic races. All are limited to North 

 America and are rather irregularly distributed 

 from the Atlantic coast to the Pacihc and from 

 Virginia, Minnesota, Wyoming, and southern 

 British Columbia southward to the Gulf coast, 

 to the end of Lower California, and through 

 Mexico and Central America to Costa Rica. 

 They inhabit a variety of climatic conditions, 

 from the rocky ledges high up on the slopes 

 of the western mountains to the hot desert 

 plains of the Southwest, and to partly forested 

 regions in both temperate and tropical lands. 

 In different parts of the United States they 

 have several other names, including "civet," 

 "civet cat," and "hydrophobia skunk." 



The spotted skunks make their homes in 

 whatever shelter is most convenient, whether 

 it be clefts in rocky ledges, slide rock, hollows 

 in logs or stumps, holes dug by themselves in 

 banks or under the shelter of cactuses or other 

 thorny vegetation, the deserted holes of bur- 

 rowing owls in Florida, or the old dens of 

 various kinds of mammals elsewhere. Thickets, 

 open woods, ocean beaches, and the vicinity of 

 deserted or even occupied buildings on ranches 

 are equally welcome haunts. On the plains of 

 Arizona they have been known to live inside 

 the mummified carcass of a cow, the sun-dried 

 hide of which made an impregnable cover. They 

 have a single litter of from two to six young 

 each year. 



Their diet is fully as varied as that of others 

 of the weasel kind, but is made up mainly of 

 insects and other forms injurious to agricul- 

 ture, including grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, 

 and larvae of many kinds. They feed also on 

 flesh whenever possible and prey on wood rats, 

 rnice of many kinds, small ground squirrels, 

 small birds and their eggs, young chickens, 

 lizards, salamanders, and crawfish. This car- 

 nivorous diet is further varied with mushrooms, 

 peanuts, persimmons, cactus fruit, and other 

 small fruits. Sometimes the animals locate 

 about occupied habitations in primitive com- 

 munities, where they give good service by kill- 

 ing the house rats, mice, and cockroaches on 

 the premises. On one occasion a spotted skunk 

 was detected cunningly removing the downy 

 chicks from under a brooding hen without dis- 

 turliing her. 



In comparison with the other skunks these 

 little animals are extremely agile. They are 

 strictly nocturnal and when pursued at night 

 by dogs will climb to safety in a tree like a 

 squirrel. When caught in a trap they struggle 

 and fight far more vigorously than their big 

 relatives. They usually carry the tail in a 

 somewhat elevated position, but when danger 

 threatens hold it upright like a warning signal. 

 If the enemy fails to take heed they shoot two 

 little spraylike jets of liquid bearing the usual 

 offensive skunk odor, and the victim retires 

 without honor. 



In writing of these skunks about the Valley 



