218 



THE BADGER AND WEASEL FAMILY. 



diversity in appearance they have all similar 

 habits. In the evening and at night they 

 roam about in search of booty, which consists 

 mainly of beetles and small birds, and by 

 night they rest in trees or clefts in the rocks. 

 The Brazilian Skunk, known under the name 

 of Surilho (Mephitis su/ocans), fig. in, has 

 only 32 teeth, while the Chinga of the 

 Mexicans has 34. 



The skunks fear neither man nor the most 

 formidable beasts of prey. They can squirt 

 the stinking yellow fluid secreted by their 

 anal glands to the distance of several yards. 

 When danger threatens them they turn round, 

 erect their tail, protrude the anus, in order to 

 expose the openings of the glands in the 

 lower part of the gut, and squirt out the fluid, 

 which diffuses such a frightful stench that 

 every creature endowed with a nose recoils 

 in a state of suffocation. This diabolical 

 stench is so persistent that it resists washing 

 with soap repeated daily for months. Fire 

 and smoke alone can extinguish it. 



Under the protection of this terrible weapon 

 of defence the skunk feels itself secure against 

 any enemy, even the jaguar. Only the most 

 courageous dogs overcome the violent ab- 

 horrence excited by this pest, and dart upon 

 the skunk to kill it with a bite. They then 

 seek to get rid of the stench by rubbing their 

 head and body in the earth. 



GROUP OF THE MARTENS 



(MARTIDA). 



Mostly di^itigrade animals, with long, and even worm-like 

 body, frequently retractile claws, and usually a long 

 bushy tail; the upper tubercled tooth small and 

 transversely placed; the upper carnassial sharp, with 

 a horizontal process in front. The transition from 

 the previous to the present group is formed by some 

 plantigrade members of the latter. 



The Glutton (Gulo borealis), PI. XIV., 

 inhabits at the present day only the Arctic 

 Regions of both hemispheres, while in 

 Quaternary times it advanced to the foot of 

 the Pyrenees and the Alps. The body is 



short and thickset, the head small and pointed, 

 the legs pretty long, the feet five-toed and 

 those of the fore-legs placed entirely on the 

 ground in walking, while those of the hind- 

 legs touch the ground for only half their 

 length, the tail short and very bushy. As in 

 the true martens there are in all 38 teeth, but 

 the upper carnassial has no process in front, 

 and the lower has only two cusps. The pre- 

 molars are sharply pointed. The long thick 

 glossy fur is of a chestnut -brown colour or 

 even black, but the covering of the back is 

 always bordered by a lighter fringe. Adult 

 males grow to rather more than three feet in 

 length. 



The pious Bishop Pontoppidan of Bergen 

 in Norway has told us the most wonderful 

 tales of this Arctic carnivore. According to 

 his account the glutton will sometimes eat so 

 much that it is obliged to squeeze itself 

 between two closely adjoining trees in order 

 to get rid of the excess! The truth is that 

 the glutton feeds on all that it can seize. It 

 attacks even young reindeers, elks, and 

 calves; but for the most part it must content 

 itself with lemmings and other small rodents. 

 Under the pressure of severe hunger it does 

 not even reject carrion; but though at the 

 moment when it scents its prey it betrays an 

 inexpressible voracity, yet it does not actually 

 devour more than sufficient to satiate its 

 hunger, and it buries the remnants of its 

 booty when too much for one meal. 



It is found everywhere in the Arctic 

 Regions, as well in woods as in stony deserts. 

 I have seen it at the foot of the Sneehattan 

 among the last pine-trees and in the naked 

 wastes in the neighbourhood of the North 

 Cape, where it may be observed trotting along 

 in a very peculiar fashion, and yet with such 

 speed that one could not follow it on horse- 

 back. It carefully avoids man because it 

 dreads his weapons. Its formidable dentition 

 enables it, however, to withstand the attacks 

 of dogs. 



The glutton sleeps in holes in trees or in 



