390 . Appendix. 
of an old disused burrow. Probably the beaver possesses 
some rude instinct similar to that of the vizcacha. 
Apropos of animals burying their treasures (or connec- 
tions) for safety, it is worth mentioning that the skunk of 
the pampas occasionally buries her young in the kennel, 
when hunger compels her to go out foraging. I had often 
heard of this habit of the female skunk from the gauchos, 
and one day had the rare good fortune to witness an animal 
engaged in obliterating her own kennel. The senses of the 
skunk are so defective that one is able at times to approach 
very near to without alarming them. In this instance I sat 
on my horse at a distance of twenty yards, and watched the 
animal at work, drawing in the loose earth with her fore 
feet until the entrance to the kennel was filled up to within 
three inches of the surface ; then, dropping into the shallow 
cavity, she pressed the loose mould down with her nose. 
Her task finished, she trotted away, and the hollow in the 
soil, when I examined it closely, looked only like the mouth 
of an ancient choked-up burrow. The young inhabit a 
circular chamber, lined with fine dry grass, at the end of a 
narrow passage from 3ft. to 5ft. long, and no doubt have 
air enough to serve them until their parent returns; but I 
believe the skunk only buries her young when they are very 
small. 
