A PLEA FOR THE SKUNK 



N spite of constant persecution the skunk 

 is without doubt the tamest of all of 

 our wild animals, and shares with the 

 weasel and mink the honour of being 

 one of the most abundant of the carnivores, or flesh- 

 eaters, near our homes. This is a great achievement for 

 the skunk, to have thus held its own in the face of 

 ever advancing and destroying civilisation. But the 

 same characteristics which enable it to hold its ground 

 are also those which emancipate it from its wild kindred 

 and give it a unique position among animals. Its first 

 cousins, the minks and weasels, all secrete pungent odours, 

 which are unpleasant enough at close range, but in the 



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