40 WATCHED BY WILD ANIMALS 



matter-of-fact for me. To heighten interest 

 and to introduce suspense nothing equals the 

 presence of a skunk. 



With utmost effort I sat tight. It would have 

 taken more effort to try to turn the skunk or to 

 dodge him. But had I known his next move 

 I would have moved first. He sprang into my 

 lap. 



It was too late to dodge so I sat still. He 

 stood up and with paws against me began to 

 look me over. I did not care to lift him off, 

 and he did not "scat." I stood up so he would 

 slide off. With a forepaw in my vest pocket 

 he hung on and I did not risk shaking too vio- 

 lently. 



Finally, realizing that he must be a pet, I 

 sat down and began to stroke him. He took 

 this kindly and by the time the prospector re- 

 turned I was at ease. 



Not finding any fresh eggs in a hen's nest, 

 a young skunk started playing with a lone china 

 egg. He was so interested that I came close 

 without his noticing me. He rolled the egg 

 over, pawed it about, tapped it with forepaws, 

 and then smelled it. All the time he was comi- 

 cally serious in expression. Then he held the 

 china egg in forepaws above his head; lay down 

 on his back and played with it, using all four 

 feet; rolled it across his stomach and finally 



