VIII 



THE SKUNK, CALMLY CONSIDERED 



THE skunk is among the handsomest animals 

 in the fields, and carries himself with an air of 

 genteel leisure, while he makes no effort to hide 

 himself from our admiration. He is not much 

 given to going abroad in daylight, though I have 

 seen him at high noon ; but more frequently you 

 meet him at twilight, when he is little disposed to 

 make way for you. "I have come near stepping 

 upon him," exclaims Mr. Burroughs, "and was 

 much the more disturbed of the two." If you pay 

 no attention to him, he will pass, or let you pass, 

 in dignified indifference, going about his business ; 

 but if you try to stop him, or follow so inquisi- 

 tively as to alarm him, he will make ready to re- 

 sent it; and, as the Greeks were to be dreaded 

 when bearing gifts, so this foe is most to be feared 

 when it turns tail to the enemy. 



Here we are, right at the start, as is inevitable ! 



When the word " skunk " is mentioned, the first 



thought in every one's mind is of the animal's 



extraordinary ability in getting himself into bad 



odor. Let us take up this matter of the skunk's 



P 209 



