174 



THE BEASTS OF PREY 



one reads what abominably fetid odors they are ca- 

 pable of spreading, he can understand what a genu- 

 ine scent gland means ! All accounts of American 

 travelers and naturalists agree that one cannot por- 

 tray the effect of the secretions of these animals. 

 No chemical laboratory, no heap of refuse, no foul 

 carcass, in short, no stench on earth is said to be as 

 fetid and unbearable as that which the graceful ani- 

 mals of the genus Mephitis give forth, and with which 

 they impregnate objects for weeks or even months. 

 The odor is said to be pestilential, and a person who 

 has had the misfortune to come in close relations 



THE SURILHO. This Brazilian animal is closely related to the more familiar Skunk, and ejects a mephitic 



secretion which is the nearest approach in foulness of odor to that of its northern cousin. The brown or black coat 

 is generally varied witli wide, white stripes, from the forehead to the root of the tail, but dividing into two along the 

 spine as shown in the picture, ft is a rather handsome animal, with a head somewhat elongated and narrowing 

 toward the snout, and long claws to aid it in scratching up the ground in its search for Beetles. {Mephitis sitf- 

 focans.) 



with one of those animals is avoided by every one, 

 as though he had the plague. In spite of their small 

 size, these animals are such powerful enemies of 

 Man, that those whom their terrible secretion has 

 touched are ostracised from human society. These 

 creatures can render an entire house uninhabitable, 

 or make valueless a stock of precious goods. 



Characteristics The Mephitis have a more slender 

 af the body than the Badgers, a long tail, 



Skunk Group. a l ar g e nose, a black ground-color, 

 and white striped markings. The head is small 

 in proportion to the size of the body, and pointed ; 

 tin- small eyes have a sharp, penetrating look, 

 the ears are short and rounded ; the short legs 

 have medium sized paws, endowed with five toes 

 almost completely united, and having rather long, 

 slightly curved nails. The soles of the balls of the 

 feet are naked. The scent-glands are large, and can 

 be compressed by a special muscle. The secretion 

 is a yellow, oily fluid, which, by compressing the 

 muscle, the animal can eject a distance of several 

 yards. Old animals and males are said to produce 

 a stronger odor than young or female specimens. 



Mode of Life The Mephitis cannot be called genuine 

 of the forest animals, as they prefer grassy or 

 Skunk Group, bushy plains to extensive forests of tall 

 trees. During the day they lie in hollow trees, in 

 clefts of rocks, or in caverns which they dig for 

 themselves, and sleep ; at night they rouse them- 

 selves and eagerly seek for prey. Their usual sus- 

 tenance is worms, insects, birds and small quad- 

 rupeds, but they also eat roots and berries. They 

 use their fearful secretion only when irritated or per- 

 secuted and, consequently, frightened. They make 

 the most sanguinary and predaceous Felidae modestly 

 keep at a distance and 

 ] find antagonists only in 

 [S fe. ,>,^i*k.: x- - very courageous Dogs, 



who, after having been 

 tainted by the secretion, 

 rush at their mephitic as- 

 sailants, evidently caring 

 little, under these odor- 

 iferous circumstances, 

 whether they, themselves, 

 live or die. The habits of 

 all known species of the 

 Skunk group are very 

 similar, and it therefore 

 suffices to consider one 

 or two of them only. 

 TheSurilho The Surilho 

 of Brazil of Brazil (Mc- 

 Described. phifissuffo- 

 cans) inhabits the greater 

 part of South America. 

 It is sixteen inches long, 

 exclusive of the tail, 

 w h i c h measures eleven 

 inches. Its color and 

 markings are subject to 

 great variations. The 

 hair is thick and long, 

 short on the snout and 

 may be of any tint, be- 

 tween grayish black, 

 brownish black or lus- 

 trous black. The white 

 stripes begin on the fore- 

 head and run, separated 

 by a finger's breadth, to 

 the root of the tail; in some rare instances they are 

 absent and the animal is uniformly black. Hensel 

 says that it would be difficult to find two specimens 

 exhibiting exactly the same markings. 



The habits of the Surilho are not essentially dif- 

 ferent from those of the Weasels. It lives in the 

 Campos country of the valley and the Sierra and 

 shuns dense virgin forests ; yet it is confined to the 

 woods, for it is only found in isolated forests of 

 the Campos. Its presence is easily detected by the 

 small, funnel-shaped holes which it makes in the 

 grassy ground near the forest edges in its search for 

 Beetles. 

 The Skunk The ill-famed Skunk (Mcpliitis varians) 

 of North takes the place of the Surilho in North 

 America. America. It is about sixteen inches 

 long, its tail measuring nearly the same. The ground 

 color of the lustrous fur is black. A plain, narrow, 

 white stripe commences at the nose, broadens on the 

 forehead and still more so on the back of the head, 

 and divides at the shoulder into two bands, which 

 run the whole length of the body and unite at the 

 tip of the tail. Small, white spots appear on the 



