592 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC AlAGAZINE 



r- ^fX)^^: ^ 



\^\ 





o 



f 





\r 



k 





r, SkuTxK 



THE TRAIL OF Tlir; COMMON SKUNK 



The hind foot of the skunk rarely shows the claws 

 in the track. The diagonal set during the gallop is char- 

 acteristic (see pages 558 and 580). 



num swamp near Washington. In 

 the forest the animals always seek 

 the cover afforded by fallen logs, slabs 

 of bark, or anything else that will 

 give protection. On the coast of New 

 Jersey they live so near the sea that 

 an extra high tide forces them to 

 mount the drift logs on the salt 

 meadows for safety. They often make 

 little burrows in the soft earth under 

 the roots of a tree, a stump, or a log. 



Their nests are small balls of dry 

 leaves, grasses, or other soft vegeta- 

 ble material placed snugly under a log 

 or in a hollow stump, burrow, or 

 other good retreat, where they appear 

 to have two or more litters of from 

 six to ten young during the summer 

 and fall. 



As in the other shrews, the food 

 of the common species consists mainly 

 of insects, larvae, worms, and obtain- 

 able flesh; but in winter and possibly 

 at other seasons many kinds of food 

 are eaten, including insects, meat, fat, 

 flour, and seeds. During the years I 

 passed at St. Michael, on the coast of 

 Bering Sea, the beginning of winter 

 always brought into the storehouses 

 and dwellings a swarm of field mice, 

 lemmings, and these shrews. The 

 food requirements of all appeared to 

 l)e the same, and all fed freely on the 

 flour and other accessible stores. 

 Dozen of the shrews were killed in 

 the houses every winter. 



Occasionally I caught and kept one 

 captive for a time to observe its 

 habits. It would be extremely rest- 

 less and equally active by day or night. 

 The small eyes appeared of little serv- 

 ice, but the long, flexible snout was 

 used constantly and served as the 

 main reliance of the little beast for 

 information as to the outside world. 



Wherever they travel these shrews 

 utilize the runways of the field mice 

 or other small animals and make little 

 runs of their own only where neces- 

 sary. Aside from a faint squeak, I 

 have never heard them utter a sound, 

 but other observers credit them with 

 series of fine twittering notes ap- 

 parently uttered as a song. 



The common shrew is a solitary 

 animal of so morose a disposition 

 that if two are placed in a cage to- 

 gether they almost immediately fall 

 upon one another with tooth and 

 nail, and the victor devours the body 

 of its companion at a single meal. 

 The digestion of shrews is so rapid 

 and the call for food so incessant 

 that it requires constant activity to 

 keep the demand satisfied. 



After the winter snow arrived in 

 the North I found many tunnels of 

 these shrews running just under its 



