viii THE SKUNK, CALMLY CONSIDERED 223 



picture illustrating, otherwise admirably, the biog- 

 raphy of our subject in the ninth edition of the 

 " Encyclopaedia Britannica," where two examples 

 are shown in the tops of tall trees, is something 

 to smile at. 



In the burrow or other den, where a large bed 

 of grass and leaves is arranged, a litter of six to 

 ten young ones is produced in summer. These 

 remain in and about the underground premises 

 until the next season, and by the end of the winter 

 most of them have grown to the same size and 

 appearance as the old ones. It was probably 

 the digging out of single large and well-grown 

 families supposed to be collections of unrelated 

 adult individuals, that give rise to the wrong state- 

 ment found in many early writings that the species 

 is gregarious. They seem to be more prolific than 

 any other of the Mustelidae. 



Young skunks, when taken early, make pretty 

 and interesting pets. This was learned from the 

 Indians, and they have been tamed and enjoyed 

 by many persons notwithstanding, as Godman puts 

 it, that " such a pet requires very cautious manage- 

 ment." No one has had so much experience, or 

 has so well recorded it, in this direction, as Dr. 

 Merriam, whose home was formerly in the south- 

 ern Adirondacks, where he made good use of 

 many opportunities to study this creature. He 

 declares that as pets skunks are attractive in ap- 

 pearance, gentle, cleanly, playful, and sometimes 



