172 FLESH-EATERS OF THE LAND 



SKUNK (Mephitis variant). 

 Coloured Plate X. Fig. 2. 



Although, as we have seen, the badger does not possess 

 the vile odour with which it has been credited, there is a 

 North American weasel which surpasses all power of 

 description in this respect. This is the Skunk, which has 

 the power, when alarmed, of ejecting with some force a 

 secretion which none but a Skunk can endure. The fiery 

 liquid is discharged from two teats under the tail, which 

 have a range of twelve feet. The odour is so persistent that 

 if a spot of the fluid should drop upon the dress no amount 

 of washing suffices to purify it. If it come in contact with 

 the skin the whole system is affected, and the victim is 

 nauseated until he would welcome sea-sickness as an agree- 

 able exchange. Audubon declared that the spot where an 

 animal was killed in the autumn still retained the foul odour 

 when the snow melted in the following spring. 



Dr. Coues states that the evil-smelling secretion has been 

 recommended as a cure for asthma. A story is told of an 

 afflicted public speaker who used a smelling-bottle in which 

 was the loathsome gland of a Skunk. In a moment of 

 forgetfulness he uncorked the bottle while on the platform, 

 with the result that the audience incontinently fled, gasping 

 for breath, into the street. 



The Skunk is to be feared for another reason. When 

 hunters are camping out it is apt to gnaw their hands while 

 they sleep, in most cases causing death by hydrophobia. 



The animal figured in the illustration is a North American 

 species ; its length is about eighteen inches, exclusive of the 

 tail. It is a very handsomely clothed creature, the soft fur 

 being generally dark brown or black, with two white stripes 

 running from the head to the tail, which is an elegant 

 appendage. 



Skunk fur is rid of its offensive odour by being subjected 

 to great heat. If the carcass of the animal is unsoiled by 

 the secretion, the flesh is at least eatable. The natives 

 consider it excellent, but the white man views it with con- 

 siderable suspicion. 



