38 The Skunk 
for this reason the January moon is called the ‘‘skunk- 
moon.” 
Late in the fall and to some extent through the 
winter, it is the habit of the younger skunks to con- 
gregate in one den, sometimes to the number of six. 
The trappers take advantage of this and often very 
easily secure- Several at a time. “Lhe mannereg: 
capture is something like this: It is mid-January and 
for two days the weather has been mild. The morning 
of the third day is still warmer and a trapper remarks, 
“Skunks must have run last night.” He now re- 
members the bait left some time ago in a piece of 
woods well designed to harbor skunks. He revisits 
the place with traps and a small axe, and finds in the 
soft snow numerous lines of tracks, leading, singly 
in most cases, in every direction. One of these he 
follows, and within a quarter of a mile it terminates 
at the entrance of a burrow. But this is not the only 
track which ends here; there are at least three others 
of the same kind. Four deadfalls are set near by 
and baited with fresh meat, while in the entrance of 
the burrow a trap is fixed. At three other burrows 
deadfalls and traps are set in a similar manner. If 
the weather continues warm, each trap must be visited 
early the next morning, for if caught, the skunk is 
likely to make his escape by amputating its leg. 
