,21 



York and New Jersey ; but why they should be superior to our own^ 

 while we have as good if not better climatic advantages, it is diffi- 

 cult to say. 



The skunk is carnivorous, it might almost be said omnivorous. It 

 feeds upon small birds, wild birds' eggs, frogs, mice, lizards, and 

 insect?, and is especially fond of grasshoppers, which it destroys in 

 great numbers. It is a nocturnal animal, and it is charged with com- 

 mitting serious depredations amongst poultry. 



The skunk is extremely cleanly in its habits, never allowing the 

 smallest drop of the fcetid matter to defile its own fur. When suddenly 

 killed no disagreeable odour is perceptible about the dead body ; and it 

 is said that the flesh, when the animal is carefully skinned and proper- 

 ly cooked, is esteemed a gi-eat luxury by those who have tried it. 



The den of the skunk is found more frequently upon flat ground 

 than upon the sloping sides of hills. The holes extend from six to eight 

 feet horizontally, then widen out into a cavity of considerable extent, 

 the floor of which is covered with dry leaves and soft moss. The skunk 

 being gregarious, in this habitation, in winter, may be found as many as- 

 fifteen or twenty of the animals. They retire to their dens in the early 

 part of Autumn; and like the bear and raccoon, go through the process' 

 of hibernation, sustaining a semi-torpid existence upon the super- 

 abundance of fat accumulated during the summer. In the southern 

 states they remain at large during the entire year, the climate being 

 sufliciently warm in winter to suit their oi'ganization. 



My old friend, that accomplished naturalist and distinguished 

 paleonlotogist, the late Elkanah Billings, in relation to this animal says: 



"In Dr. Lichtenstein's celebrated work, published in 1838, in Ber- 

 lin, it is stated that there are seventeen species of the genus Mephiiicus; 

 one of which is found at the Cape of Good Hope, two in North America 

 and the remainder in Mexico and South America." 



Mr. Billings further says: "This species of skunk — i. e. the skunk 

 of the Ottawa Valley — is found all over the British American posse^;- 

 ions, as high as ST'-' North, and ranges south to Kentucky, Carolina, and 

 Alabama. It is common in Upper and Lower Canada. In the month 



