when the snow was five feet deep, but did not see the animal itself, and 

 knew not what stirred it up. 



These animals are not at all particular as to their diet. They eat 



No. 2. Long-tailed Texas Skunk, Mephitis mes 



mice and any other small animals which come their way. Ground-nesting 

 birds and their eggs suffer, while grubs and grasshoppers are eaten in 

 large numbers. I think at times they must largely subsist on these latter 

 insects. Take it all around, skunks are really useful. They are prolific 

 breeders, six or eight young in a litter. 



Recently, when furs were at the top prices, the best black skunk skins 

 were quoted at figures once applicable to far more valuable furs. It is a 

 really good and durable fur, however, wearing very well indeed. 



SPOTTED SKUNKS. 



These pretty little skunks furnish the fur known to the trade as 

 "Civet," a name properly belonging to a quite different animal. There are 

 four species of these skunks found in Colorado, the Prairie Spotted Skunk, 

 Spilogale iiiterrupta, Arizona Spotted Skunk, Spilogale arizonae, Rocky 

 Mountain Spotted Skunk, Spilogale temiis, and the Great Basin Spotted 

 Skunk, Spilogale gracilis saxn tills. These skunks do not range so high 

 in the mountains as their larger relatives, 8,000 feet probably being their 

 limit in altitude. Below this they appear to be pretty generally distributed 

 over the state. While there is a general similarity in the habits^ of both 

 groups, the small ones are more lightly built and active and even to some 

 extent climb into trees and bushes. In many parts of the West they are 

 called "Hydrophobia Skunks" or "Phoby Cats". There is a somewhat uni- 

 versal impression that their bite always causes hydrophobia and is invari- 

 ably fatal. A. H. Howell of the U. S. Biological Survey says in this con- 

 nection: "While there are a few authentic cases of skunk bite having 

 resulted fatally there are also many instances in which it has produced no 



