“Shs A POACHER. 
turnal, andamore predatory, thievish, treacherous, 
bloodthirsty poacher you could not ‘skeer up.’ 
His residence (which is always by the side of 
some still pool on the open prairie) consists of a 
large hole, dug in horizontally—a task rendered 
easy of performance when his powerful digging 
claws are brought into operation. Beaten roads 
extend from this hole to the water’s edge; and 
the entrance to this den is usually strewed with 
ducks’ feathers, the tips of the wings, the heads, 
beaks, and feet, together with bones deftly picked. 
Ducks are his favourite birds; but, you ask, 
how can he possibly catch them? In this way. 
His instinct guides him to reside near the pools 
on which water-birds come to sleep and pass the 
night. When everything is still and hushed, 
and the unsuspecting birds are floating in fancied 
security, with their heads tucked under their 
wings, then out steals the crafty skunk, and 
creeping noiselessly down his roadways, swims, 
without the slightest splash, towards the 
drowsy birds, dives under the one that suits his 
taste, seizes it by the breast, and, spite of all its 
flapping, quacking, and struggling, drags the vic 
tim ashore, kills, and eats it. He seldom gets more 
than one in the night; for the other birds take 
timely warning, and leave for some safer retreat. 
