vin THE SKUNK, CALMLY CONSIDERED 237 



that in most cases would give the artillerist no 

 opportunity to wheel into "action front"; and, 

 furthermore, it appears that when a close and 

 sudden combat occurs, as in the tussle with the 

 snake witnessed by Dr. Abbott, or such a fight 

 over spoil and right of way as would occur in 

 a burrow between two rival skunks or a com- 

 peting mink or badger, a regular teeth-and-toe- 

 nail scrimmage, the anal glands are not dis- 

 charged. A similar restraint would, no doubt, in 

 most cases attend the fierce and sudden swoop 

 of an owl, hawk, or eagle, birds that cause the 

 death of many a skunk and conepate. If, as is 

 true, a comparatively slight blow across the small 

 of the back will paralyze and render powerless 

 the whole hind quarters of the animal, including 

 the gland-muscles, the deadly clutch of a heavy 

 bird's talons are likely to have a similar effect. 

 If the skunk has not judgment enough to let a 

 big black snake alone, as we have seen, probably 

 he must often (especially in the West) tackle a 

 rattlesnake or copperhead, whose prompt turn 

 and poisonous stroke could hardly be prevented 

 by any discharge of the glandular liquid. 



(This suggests a parenthetical note to show how 

 these two creatures must sometimes encounter one 

 another under undesired circumstances. The rat- 

 tling of the crotalus is wonderfully similar to that 

 of a grasshopper, the skunk's favorite tidbit; 

 and that animal may occasionally be deceived into 



