"Because of his tendency to grab things quickly one had to be careful in 

 allowing him to take food from the hand." Because of this care, Mr. Knight 

 seems to have only one hand. 



De Sachet, A Pet Skunk 



Harry H. Knight 



Investigator in Entomology — Cornell University 



My acquaintance with Sachet began on the 15th of July when 

 we chanced to meet on the edge of a woodland. It was doubtless 

 not far distant from the family den from whence he had strayed 

 in search of food. Having heard that young skunks make inter- 

 esting pets I quickly decided that here was my chance to learn 

 something of this little known animal. Before he could get out 

 of sight I had him safely caught in my insect net. He was 

 frightened but emitted no odor so I let him crawl into the darkness 

 under my coat. Sachet was perhaps six weeks old at the time 

 I found him and after keeping him two weeks, I removed his 

 scent glands. This was a fairly simple operation and was per- 

 formed while the animal was under the influence of ether. After 

 this the prefix " De" was added to his name and I was able to rear 

 my pet without fear of disagreeable odors. De Sachet soon 

 learned to drink milk from a dish but only after many attempts 

 spent in digging in the dish with front feet a performance followed 

 by licking his paws dry of the milk. It appeared to be an instinc- 

 tive habit with the animal that to acquire food he must first dig 



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