MICHIGAN 251 



that the horrid odour is given to the animal by Nature as 

 a protection, and they strive to make the general habits 

 of the creature fit in with this view. A protection against 

 what ? Other beasts of prey ? Carnivorous animals do 

 not devour each other. I will not go the length of 

 saying that a preying animal never, under any circum- 

 stances, devours another predatory creature, but I am 

 not sure that I should be going too far if I did. I 

 will say positively that no preying mammal or bird habitu- 

 ally does so ; and unless it was a common practice, it will 

 be palpable to any real naturalist that Nature would not 

 make a special guard against it. Besides, why protect a 

 skunk more than a stoat or a weasel ? But, says the 

 advocate of the pet theory, the abominable odour must 

 be given for some special purpose. I fail to see that. For 

 some inscrutable reason all created beings are more or 

 less offensive — man among them, as those who have 

 sniffed an unwashed nigger are well aware. That they 

 are so offensive for protective reasons is simply nonsense. 

 For what reason does a carcass stink ? To frighten the 

 vultures from it, perhaps ! The horrid odour of many 

 kinds of deer is only second in offensiveness to that of 

 the North American skunk. 



As a matter of fact most carnivores are possessed of 

 highly offensive odours. The same applies to birds of prey, 

 and even to reptiles. No one who has dissected a serpent 

 can be ignorant of the filthy odour of its intestines, nor 

 have failed to note that this stench is often powerfully 

 given oft' by the living animal, especially when terrified. 

 That, however, does not save them from destruction. 



Regarding the skunk, a great deal has been said as to 

 whether the odour is offensive or not to the animal itself. 

 It is not, as might be expected. For it is ridiculous to 

 suppose that the Creator would make any of His creatures 

 an abomination to itself. The skunk, in common with 

 such creatures as stoats, weasels, and polecats, to say 

 nothing of foxes and the larger carnivores as well as other 



