CARNIVORA. 73 



bers of them are sometimes found in the same hole. They feed 

 on poultry, birds, eggs, small quadrupeds and insects. The 

 head is short ; the nose rather projecting ; the snout generally 

 blunt; the hairs on the tail are very long. Seventeen or eight- 

 een species have been enumerated ; one in South Africa, two 

 or three in the United States, and the rest in Mexico and South 

 America ; but of these species there are almost endless varieties 

 in respect to color and markings. 



Mephitis Americana or M. Chinga. The COMMON AMERICAN 

 SKUNK. 



This animal is about as large as a cat, and generally is of a 

 blackish brown, with white stripes running lengthwise on the 

 back. In the markings of white, it shows many diversities, and 

 it has a long bushy tail. All the varieties of this animal have. a 

 broad fleshy body, not unlike that of the wolverine. Its legs are 

 short ; the fur is rather long and coarse, intermingled with much 

 longer smooth and glossy hairs. Its length from the point of the 

 nose to the root of the tail is seventeen inches. No quadruped 

 found on this continent is more universally detested than the 

 skunk. The offensive fluid is contained in two small sacs situ- 

 ated near the root of the tail. By day it is so thin and transpa- 

 rent as to be scarcely perceptible ; but at night has a yellow 

 luminous appearance. He is himself a very cleanly animal, 

 never suffering a drop of the fluid to touch his fur, nor does his 

 burrow give forth any offensive smell. In the northern states, 

 this animal retires to his burrow about December, and is not seen 

 again till the following February. In the southern states he 

 does not go into winter quarters, but continues to prowl at night 

 during the winter. It is said his flesh is " well tasted and savory," 

 and cooked and eaten by the Indians. 



The LONG or LARGE TAILED SKUNK, M. macroura, (Gr. fiaxgog, 

 makros, long, ovqa, oura, tail.) common in Mexico and Texas, is 

 of the size of a common cat, and has five or six young at a time. 



The M. Zorilla, or CALIFORNIA SKUNK has white spots on the 

 forehead and on each temple, and four white stripes on the sides 

 and back, with a br.oad tip of white on the tail ; in form is a 

 small image of the common skunk, and like it, so offensive as 

 seldom to be approached. The African Zorilla, found at the 

 Cape of Good Hope, has the tail spread out in the form of a 

 plume, and does not give out the overpowering odor of other 

 species. 



The M. mesoleuca, (Gr /w^orog, mesos, middle, levxog, leukos, 

 white.) The MEXICAN SKUNK has the long and under fur of the 

 whole back and the tail, white. The long tail of this animal is 



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