98 BULLETIN NO. VII. 
Two summers ago I was the happy master of the cleverest 
young skunk that I have thus far chanced to meet. For a 
name he received the title of his genus, and we called him 
‘Meph.’ for short. By way of precaution, I removed his scent 
sacs, and he made a rapid and complete recovery, after a few 
days of temporary indisposition. While driving about the 
country, in the performance of professional duties, he usually 
slept in my pocket. After supper I commonly took a walk, and 
he always followed close at my heels. If I chanced to walk too 
fast for him, he would scold and stamp with his fore-feet, and 
if}I persisted in keeping too far ahead, would turn about dis- 
gusted, and make off in an opposite direction, but if I stopped 
and called him, he would hurry along at a sort of ambling 
pace, and soon overtake me. He was particularly fond of 
ladies, and I think it was the dress that attracted him ; but be 
that as it may, he would invariably leave me to follow any lady 
that chanced to come near. We used to walk through the 
woods to a large meadow that abounded in grasshoppers. 
Here ‘Meph.’ would fairly revel in his favorite food, and it was 
rich sport to watch his manoeuvres. When a grasshopper 
jumped he jumped, and I have seen him with as many as three 
in his mouth and two under his fore-paws at one time! He 
would eat so many that his over-extended belly actually 
dragged upon the ground, and, when so full that he could hold 
no more, would still catch and slay them. When so small that 
he could hardly toddle about he never hesitated to tackle the 
large and powerful beetle known as the horned bug, and got 
many smart nips for his audacity. But he was a courageous 
little fellow and it was not long before he learned to handle 
them with impunity. Ere many weeks he ventured to attack a 
mouse, and the ferocity displayed in its destruction was truly 
astonishing. He devoured the entire body of his victim, and 
growled and stamped his feet if any one came near before the 
repast was over.” 
P. 421 Carver’s Travels : 
“THE SKUNK. This is the most extraordinary animal that 
the American woods produce. It lives chiefly in the woods 
and hedges. But its extraordinary powers are only shewn 
when it is pursued. As soon as he finds himself in danger he 
ejects to a great distance a small stream of water of so subtile 
a nature, and at the same time of so powerful a smell, that the 
air is tainted with it for half a mile in circumference. On this 
