3 02 



ANIMAL DEFENCES 



exhales a most disgusting and penetrating odour. In colour it 

 is black and white, so distributed as to make it extremely con- 

 spicuous, for the ^lpper side is white instead of the lower, as in 



Fig. 484. American Skunk (Mephitis suffocans] 



cases where inconspicuousness is the end to be attained (see p. 

 282). The possession of a large bushy white tail, which is 

 carried erect, makes the animal still more easy to see, and it is 

 in ^the habit of progressing at an easy pace, which it does not 

 quicken even when attack is threatened. Should these danger- 

 signals be ignored by an inexperienced enemy, the Skunk defends 



