VI 



THE SKUNK 



In February a new track appears upon the 

 snow, slender and delicate, about a third larger 

 than that of the gray squirrel, indicating no 

 haste or speed, but, on the contrary, denoting 

 the most imperturbable ease and leisure, the foot- 

 prints so close together that the trail appears 

 like a chain of curiously carved links. Sir Me- 

 phitis mephitica, or, in plain English, the skunk, 

 has waked up from his six weeks' nap, and come 

 out into society again. He is a nocturnal trav- 

 eler, very bold and impudent, coming quite up 

 to the barn and outbuildings, and sometimes 

 taking up his quarters for the season under the 

 haymow. There is no such word as hurry in his 

 dictionary, as you may see by his path upon the 

 snow. He has a very sneaking, insinuating way, 

 and goes creeping about the fields and woods, 

 never once in a perceptible degree altering his 

 gait, and, if a fence crosses his course, steers for 

 a break or opening to avoid climbing. He is too 

 indolent even to dig his own hole, but appropri- 



