296 ZOOLOGY. 



Merriam has Known one to swim nearly a quarter of a mile 

 without showing its bead above the surface. It lives on fish 

 and crayfish, as well as frogs, and is said to invade the hen- 

 yard and even to prey upon young lambs. " It can dive and 

 swim under water with such speed and agility, that it can 

 overtake and secure, with great ease and certainty, almost 

 any of our fresh-water fishes." When in winter travel- 

 ling on ice they advance by " a run and a slide," i.e., mak- 

 ing several jumps and then sliding ahead flat on their bel- 

 lies. Tbe otter is also fond of "sliding down bill," both 

 in winter on the snow, and in summer down tbe steep banks 

 of stream. We have seen such "otter slides" in northern 

 Maine, and Merriam reports them as common in the Adi- 

 rondacks. The otter is one of our most valuable fur 

 animals. Its skin becomes "prime in Kovember, remains 

 good tbrougbout the winter, and is best in spring. Its nest 

 is generally made under some shelving bank, or uprooted 

 tree. The young are born about tbe middle of April, and 

 two (rarely one or three) constitute a litter." (Merriam.) 



Tbe skunk (Mephitis mephitica), says Merriam, who 

 thinks this malodorous creature has been too much abused, 

 "is pre-eminently an insect-eater;" he destroys more bee- 

 tles, grasshoppers, and the like than all our otber mammals 

 togetber, and in addition to these devours vast numbers 

 of mice." Skunks hibernate only during the severest 

 portion of the winter. They are very prolific, bringing 

 forth six to ten young at a birth; these young, with their 

 parents, remaining in one hole for the ensuing year. 



The badger {Taxidea Americana) is stout and clumsy, 

 tbe body very flat, with very large fore feet and claws; it 

 digs with great rapidity, and lives so secreted a life that 

 little is known of its habits. It lives in holes in the 

 ground and keeps out of sight. It is now most abun- 

 dant in the Upper Missouri, where its burrows are nu- 

 merous. It preys on prairie-dogs and spermophiles. The 

 badger, too slow, says Coues, to capture tbe nimble ro- 

 dents which form its principal food, perpetually seeks. 



