IN THE CATSKILLS 



show for a tail! Look at me, look at me!" and 

 he capers about in his best style. Again, he would 

 seem to tease you and provoke your attention; then 

 suddenly assumes a tone of good-natured, childlike 

 defiance and derision. That pretty little imp, the 

 chipmunk, will sit on the stone above his den and 

 defy you, as plainly as if he said so, to catch him 

 before he can get into his hole if you can. You 

 hurl a stone at him, and "No you did n't!" comes 

 up from the depth of his retreat. 



In February another track appears upon the 

 snow, slender and delicate, about a third larger than 

 that of the gray squirrel, indicating no haste or 

 speed, but, on the contrary, denoting the most im- 

 perturbable ease and leisure, the footprints so close 

 together that the trail appears like a chain of curi- 

 ously carved links. Sir Mephitis mephitica, or, 

 in plain English, the skunk, has awakened from his 

 six weeks' nap, and come out into society again. 

 He is a nocturnal traveler, very bold and impudent, 

 coming quite up to the barn and outbuildings, and 

 sometimes taking up his quarters for the season 

 under the haymow. There is no such word as hurry 

 in his dictionary, as you may see by his path upon 

 the snow. He has a very sneaking, insinuating 

 way, and goes creeping about the fields and woods, 

 never once in a perceptible degree altering his gait, 

 and, if a fence crosses his course, steers for a break 

 or opening to avoid climbing. He is too indolent 

 22 



