THE SKUNK 45 



and proved to be dying, though not dead. Soon after, 

 I examined the animal caref uUy, and found that it had 

 been strangled, or nearly so. 



During this combat there was no discharge of the de- 

 fensive glands of the skunk. "Whether these were in- 

 active at the time, or whether they were disabled by the 

 snake's attack, can not, of course, be determined. 



An able critic suggests that the above incident had 

 better be omitted, as a black snake has no such constrict- 

 ing power as is there implied. 



While this snake always seizes its prey with its mouth, 

 and never attempts, boa-constrictor-like, to suffocate it, I 

 have abundantly satisfied myself that it can cling suffi- 

 ciently tightly to an object to produce suffocation, if the 

 animal is small. The grip that it secures about the limb 

 of a tree, and which visibly tightens when you attempt to 

 unwrap the animal, assures me that a similar hold upon 

 an animal's neck would be sufficient to at least very ma- 

 terially affect its breathing. 



