232 WILD NEIGHBORS CHAP. 



" The Naturalist in British Columbia " is every- 

 where interesting, has harsher words to say of the 

 skunk in that part of the world than the animal 

 seems to justify elsewhere ; but this may be dis- 

 counted by the recollection that more legitimate 

 food is rather scarce along the western part of the 

 international boundary, where Dr. Lord travelled. 

 " A more predatory, thievish, treacherous, blood- 

 thirsty poacher you could not ' skeer up,' " exclaims 

 this writer, and then adds novel information, as 

 follows : " His residence (which is always by the 

 side of some still pool on the open prairie) consists 

 of a large hole, dug in horizontally. . . . Beaten 

 roads extend from this hole to the water's edge ; 

 and the entrance to this den is usually strewed 

 with ducks' feathers, the tips of the wings, the 

 heads, beaks, and feet, together with bones deftly 

 picked. Ducks are his favorite food. . . . When 

 everything is still and hushed, and the unsuspect- 

 ing birds are floating in fancied security, with their 

 heads tucked under their wings, then out steals 

 the crafty skunk, and creeping noiselessly down 

 his roadways, swims, without the slightest splash, 

 towards the drowsy birds, dives under the one 

 that suits his taste, seizes it by the breast, and 

 spite of all its flapping, quacking, and struggling, 

 drags the victim ashore, kills, and eats it." 



With such a record as this against him even 

 in isolated cases it is not surprising that the 

 skunk should now and then play havoc in the hen- 



