314 NOKTH AMERICAN FAUNA [No. 55 



Breeding habits. The mammae of adult females are arranged 

 usually in 5 pairs 1 inguinal far back, 2 abdominal, and 2 pectoral 

 or in two parallel rows of 5 each. There are records of 4 and 5 

 young in a litter, but the number of mammae would indicate the 

 possibility of larger families up to perhaps 8 or 10 in some cases. 



Food habits. The food of these little skunks is largely insects 

 and small rodents, but as in the case of others of the group probably 

 includes lizards, snakes, salamanders, small birds, and crayfish, any 

 kind of meat that becomes available, and some berries and wild fruits. 

 There are many records of their clearing out the rats and mice 

 around barns and houses where they have taken up their abode, but 

 very few records of any destruction of poultry. However, it is not 

 improbable that they may sometimes kill young chickens or other 

 small poultry found roosting in unprotected places. 



At times they become very fat, but it seems doubtful that in the 

 mild climate of their zone they should hibernate for long periods, if 

 at all. 



Econoiwc statm. In recent years the fur of these little animals 

 has become fashionable and is often seen in ladies' coats, collars, 

 and muffs. It is very light and soft and fairly durable. The price 

 per skin is not very high, but the considerable number of skins 

 taken each year adds to the value of the trapper's harvest. On the 

 other hand the animals may have considerable value as destroyers of 

 insect and rodent pests, and might well be given a degree of protec- 

 tion that would insure their perpetuation in reasonable abundance. 



SPILOGALE PHENAX LATIFRONS MERRIAM 

 OREGON SPOTTED SKUNK ; HYDROPHOBIA SKUNK ; " CIVET CAT " 

 Spilogale phenax latifrons Merriam, North Amer. Fauna No. 4, p. 15, 1890. 



Type. Collected at Roseburg, Oreg., by T. S. Palmer, July 13, 1889. 



General characters. Much larger and heavier than S. ffracilis saxatilis (pi. 

 44, B) ; white areas much less extensive than the black and usually tinged 

 with buffy or salmon ; white tip including less than half of tail. 



Measurements. Average of 6 males: Total length, 408 mm; tail, 127; foot, 

 47.7; ear (dry), 20. Average of 11 females: 373; 122; 42.8. Weight of S. 

 phenax 16 to 28 ounces (Grinnell, Storer, and Linsdale, 1930, p. 465). 



Distribution and habitat. Coast section of Oregon and Northern 

 California in Upper Sonoraii and Transition Zones (fig. 77). 



General habits. In the absence of rocks in much of the low coun- 

 try of western Oregon, these little spotted skunks live commonly in the 

 timber among old logs and in such cover as the forest affords. Near 

 the coast they find abundance of logs and dense growth, in which to 

 hide away and are usually more numerous than in the interior val- 

 leys. In food, breeding, and general habits, they differ but little 

 from the Great Basin species, except as they adapt themselves to 

 different cover and to different types of food. They come more in 

 contact with agriculture and human affairs and thus seem more oft 

 to do the only mischief of which they are accused, occasionally killing 

 young poultry that is left unprotected at night. On the other hand 

 their destruction of small rodents and insects on farms is of greatei 

 economic importance than in a country of little agriculture. 



Their value as fur is not great but adds considerably to the trap- 

 per's returns. The following notes from the Oregon Sportsman foi 

 April 1914 give an idea of their local importance. John Vaughn oj 



