Coolly, the skunk would take another little trip always 

 toward a protecting stone wall then hoist its tail and stare 

 at the bull. 



Well, you know how bulls are. This one got too brave. 

 Instantly the skunk's head went down and its tail came stiffly 

 erect. Then it sprayed from a devastating five feet. Partly 

 blinded, the bull rushed off in agony. Once again a skunk had 

 walked away from grave danger. 



Completely sold on their impregnability, skunks walk amiably 

 through life. An old skunk is usually fat he has seldom hur- 

 ried. Skunks won't run from peril, partly because they believe 

 to the last in the power of their terrible scent. A railroad engi- 

 neer told me his train was sprayed on two occasions by a skunk 

 near the tracks. I know of a skunk that let fly at a house because 

 it was startled and probably angered by a slamming door. 



In some rural areas they'll tell you the animal dispenses its 

 trade-mark by saturating its tail with the liquid and then flick- 

 ing it at an enemy. Actually, a muscular contraction expels the 

 stuff from a pair of glands beneath the tail to a distance of about 

 ten feet. It is strongly acid and can cause temporary blindness. 



For about the same reason that Russian roulette is played, 

 back-country folk often try picking up and carrying a live skunk 

 by the tail they know he is loaded but they don't think he'll 

 fire. My friend George Heinold tells of a night when a customer 

 stepped from the rear of a country bar and reappeared toting a 

 skunk by the tail. Successfully holding the skunk before him, 

 the fellow emptied the bar. 



Not long afterward George saw a skunk. Walking, of course. 

 He picked it up by the tail. It refused to conform to theory and 

 George had to go bury his shirt. Persistent, George later elevated 

 another polecat. He buried that shirt too. To my mind this 

 only proves that the animals are whimsical; he should have 

 picked up three skunks. 



Most wild animals treat a skunk as if it were a ticking time 

 bomb and walk carefully around it. Bears are quite polite; so 

 are mountain lions. In return for such deference, skunks behave 

 pretty decently and often show remarkable self-control even 



250 



