14 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [14:1— Jan., 1918 



if they are not struck by a liquid volley from the skunk's artillery. 

 The dogs are usually as plucky and stoical as the boys. 



Inetrment of Clothes 



Such an expedition is apt to yield four or five skunk furs. But 

 it is also apt to be followed by the burial of old coats and trousers 

 and by the boys being forbidden to appear at table for several 

 meals. 



More than one rural swain while on his way to visit his "best 

 girl" has met a skunk and been obliged to return home sorrowing. 

 More than one jauntily clad young man from the city, espying a 

 skunk for the first time, has drawn near to ascertain what manner 

 of beast it was and has repented in solitude. 



The skunk is unique in its means of defense. Its almost over- 

 whelmingly fetid discharge is dreaded alike by men and animals. 

 Yet the liquid that is so malodorous is innocent in appearance, 

 being of a clear amber. The skunk can throw that liquid for a 

 distance of fifteen feet and its acrid odor is perceptible for more 

 than a mile. Clothing denied by it can never, as a rule, be wholly 

 purified. 



The skunk is always ready against sudden attack. Nor is it 

 true, as some believe, that one discharge prevents an immediate 

 repetition. Moreover, one would be foolhardy to put to the test 

 the statement that is sometimes made that holding the animal by 

 the tail prevents the discharge. The liquid is not, however, dan- 

 gerous to the eyesight, as one sometimes hears. 



One authority gravely makes this recommendation : "The best 

 method of dispatching a skunk in a steel trap so as not to defile 

 the fur with the odor is to approach near enough to strike the ani- 

 mal a quick blow across the back, thus paralyzing the hind parts 

 and preventing the discharge." This may be good enough advice 

 but it sounds suspiciously like that to the effect that the best way 

 to catch certain birds is to put salt on their tails. 



A person who has served as a target for a skunk may get rid of 

 the odor by washing the affected areas of the skin with chloride of 

 lime or gasoline. The best means of cleansing garments is to wash 

 them in gasoline or benzine, then expose them to the sun and wind. 



But the skunk's unpleasant trick of tainting the air has brought 

 him into an ill repute he does not deserve. People forget he 



