238 WILD NEIGHBORS CHAP. 



running heedlessly upon a rattlesnake when it 

 expected to pounce upon a grasshopper. A fight 

 might ensue, and both parties might be fatally 

 injured before explanations could be given ; but a 

 victory would be of no value to the reptile, at least, 

 for no rattlesnake could get even a half-grown 

 skunk down its throat. In such a situation as 

 this the alleged "warning rattle" of the snake 

 would become a means of attraction instead of 

 repulsion, of harm rather than benefit.) 



There remain to be considered only foxes and 

 wolves as natural enemies of the skunk, other than 

 men and their dogs ; and as these alone attack 

 him boldly or by chase, in such a way as ordinarily 

 to inform him of danger in time to defend him- 

 self, it is against them mainly that his peculiar 

 weapon would be of service. Now the fox is so 

 knowing, so sly and sagacious, that he must be 

 fully aware of what to expect, and take such pre- 

 cautions against harm to himself as distinguish 

 him elsewhere. He has the nature of a dog, but 

 he has learned the strategy of the cat, and we are 

 bound to believe, from what we know of his cun- 

 ning methods in respect to other prey, that he 

 takes good care to get the skunk at a disadvantage 

 before he attacks it. Evidence of this is afforded 

 by the experience of trappers. "To the fox- 

 trapper," says one intelligent writer on the subject, 

 " this animal is a pest, so that most of the skunks 

 of the neighborhood must be caught or got rid of 



