278 VERTEBRATE ANIMALS OF THE UNITED STATES 



M. V. mink (Peale and Beauvois). Common mink. Larger and 

 darker; length 640 mm.; tail 212 mm.; hind foot 73 mm.: eastern 

 United States from the New England coast to North Carolina and 

 central Georgia and Alabama; westwards to Missouri and northeastern 

 Texas. 



M. V. lutensis (Bangs). Colors pale; tail short; size small: coastal 

 region from South Carolina to Florida. 



M. V. Ictifcra Hollister. Color light brown, with white spots on the 

 throat and breast; size rather large: northern Illinois and southern 

 Kansas. 



M. V. lacustris (Preble). Color dark brown; white on the breast and 

 belly; size rather large: northern Canada to southern North Dakota. 



M. V. vulgivaga (Bangs). Size small; color light brown: Gulf coast 

 from Texas to Florida. 



M. V. energumenos (Bangs). Size small; color dark: New ^Mexico 

 and Colorado, westward and northwestward to the Pacific coast. 



J/. w%n/>c5 (Audubon and Bachman). Black-footed ferret. Color 

 pale yellowish or buff above and beneath, dark middorsally; feet, tip 

 of tail and face black; length (male) 570 mm.; tail 133 mm.; hind foot 

 60 mm.: Great Plains from western Dakota and Montana to Texas; 

 westward to the base of the Rockies; prairie dogs constitute its principal 

 food. 



Subfamily 2. Guloninae. — Wolverines. Size large; body robust; 

 ears very short : i genus. 



Giilo Storr. Body stout; tail rather short and bushy; feet partly 

 plantigrade; claws compressed: 3 species, 2 in the United States. 



G. luscus (L.). Wolverine; glutton. Color dark brown or blackish, 

 with a pale band on the sides; face brown; feet large; legs short; fur 

 shaggy; length 1,025 mm.; tail 215 mm.; hind foot 200 mm.: Boreal 

 forests of North America from Michigan, the Pennsylvania mountains 

 and Colorado to the Arctic, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific; rare 

 or extinct in the eastern States. 



G, lideus Elliot. Color paler; length 950 mm.; tail 200 mm.; 

 hind foot 170 mm.: Sierra Nevadas from Tulare County, California, 

 northwards. 



Subfamily 3. Mephitinae. — Skunks. Body stocky, heavy behind; 

 nose slender; ears small; legs short; claws long and non-retractile; tail 

 usually long and bushy; fur mostly long, loose and silky; color black 

 and white: 3 genera and 30 species, all North American; 20 species in 

 the United States. Skunks are nocturnal animals which live on small 

 mammals, birds eggs, insects, etc., and are found both in forests and 



