INTRODUCING MR. AND MRS. SKUNK 37 



At one point they apparently defended them- 

 selves. Coyote tracks behind a log within ten 

 feet of them, their own tracks showing an atti- 

 tude of defense, and a wild leap and retreat of 

 the coyote this was the story in the snow. 



The majority of my lively skunk experiences 

 were the result of my trying to get more closely 

 acquainted with him. On a number of occa- 

 sions, however, I was an innocent bystander 

 while some other person had the experience. 

 Then through years of outdoor life I have known 

 skunks to do numerous things of interest in which 

 skunk character and not skunk scent was the 

 centre of interest. 



During a night of flooding rain a mother 

 skunk and five tiny skunkies came into the 

 kitchea of a family with whom I was tempo-, 

 rarily staying. They probably had been drowned 

 out. Mother skunk was killed and the little 

 ones thrown out the window to die. But father 

 skunk still lived. The next evening when I 

 went in search of the young ones, as I stood 

 looking about, father skunk walked into a bunch 

 of grass and lifted a little skunk out. Taking 

 mouth hold on the back of its neck he carried it 

 a few feet, laid it down, and then picked up 

 another little skunk with it. With the two 

 youngsters hanging from this mouth hold he 

 carried them off into the woods. 



