viii THE SKUNK, CALMLY CONSIDERED 221 



in the snow, the feet stepping at equal dis- 

 tances apart and in advance, thus : 



Dwelling under such varied conditions, it is 

 not surprising to find it making its home in a 

 variety of tenements. Its fore feet are armed 

 with long and strong claws, so that it is able 

 to dig well, and it habitually excavates burrows 

 in light soil. On the prairies, as Kennicott ascer- 

 tained, they are five to ten feet long and a foot 

 or so below the surface ; but sizes vary. At the 

 innermost end is hollowed out a chamber well 

 bedded with grass. In the high Western moun- 

 tains and other rocky places, it usually takes 

 possession of a crevice ; and hollow trees and 

 stumps are now and then adopted as homesteads. 

 Burroughs says it appropriates woodchuck-holes 

 in New York State ; and, in New England, stone 

 walls often form part, at least, of the shelter 

 needed for its den. Lastly, it has adopted every- 

 where the uncomfortable habit of seeking a lodg- 

 ing beneath the houses and barns of farmers and 

 ranchmen, making its presence known sooner or 

 later during the winter by a stench that compels 

 the landlord to evict the intruder straightway. 



Dr. Elliott Coues avers that this stench is the 

 result of the necessity the animal feels to evacu- 

 ate his scent-glands from time to time, when they 

 are not emptied by some provoked discharge, and 



