io8 HUNTING TRIPS 



fire-arms and their infinitely more deadly 

 poison, the partial and light settlement of 

 the country that accompanies the cattle in- 

 dustry has had the effiect of making all these 

 birds more plentiful than before; and most 

 unlike the large game, game birds bid fair 

 to increase in numbers during the next few 

 years. 



The skunks are a nuisance in more ways 

 than one. They are stupid, familiar beasts, 

 with a great predilection for visiting camps, 

 and the shacks or huts of the settlers, to pick 

 up any scraps of meat that may be lying 

 round. I have time and again known a 

 skunk to actually spend several hours of the 

 night in perseveringly digging a hole under- 

 neath the logs of a hut, so as to get inside 

 among the inmates. The animal then hunts 

 about among them, and of course no one 

 will willingly molest it ; and it has often been 

 known to deliberately settle down upon and 

 begin to eat one of the sleepers. The 

 strange and terrible thing about these at- 

 tacks is that in certain districts and at cer- 



