220 WILD NEIGHBORS CHAP. 



effective, species of their own. As to details he 

 is indifferent, forest or prairie, open plain or 

 rugged mountain, seeming all the same to his 

 catholic taste in geography. If he exercises any 

 preference, it is for high, dry, rocky situations for 

 his particular residence, as opposed to waterside 

 haunts chosen by his cousin the mink ; in this 

 respect he inclines more to the ways of the badger, 

 to which he is so closely allied. Almost every- 

 where, moreover, he is seen in greater numbers 

 around settlements and camps than in the utter 

 wilderness ; and there are few rural districts where 

 this animal is probably not quite as numerous 

 to-day as he was a century or two centuries ago. 

 It is equally indifferent to climate. The snows 

 of the North, the rainy districts of Puget Sound, 

 the Atlantic coast and Alaska, the aridity of the 

 high plains, are borne with equal patience ; and 

 everywhere it is resident. It never runs away 

 from bad weather, any more than from sentient 

 enemies. In the far North, it hibernates several 

 months ; on the Canadian border, this hiemal 

 slumber lasts only for some weeks, with more 

 or less frequent emergences during intervals of 

 moderation ; in the central and southerly parts 

 of the United States, it does not " hole up " at 

 all. The Canadian Indians called March the 

 "skunk moon," because then the animal began 

 to appear in some numbers, as they knew by 

 the frequency of his diagonally placed footprints 



