300 



THE SKUNK. 



repositories, it sets itself determinately to work, tears away all obstacles, and does extreme 



damage to the provisions, by eating all the meat, and scattering on every side all the 



vegetable food. 



In captivity, its greatest dainty is said to be the body of a cat, for which strange diet it 



will leave every other kind of food. 



The Wolverene is not a very prolific animal, as it seldom produces more than two at a 



birth. The maternal residence is generally placed in the crevice of a rock, or in some secluded 



situation, and the young Wolver- 

 enes make their appearance about 

 May. 



The Skunk has obtained the 

 unenviable reputation of being liter- 

 ally in worse odor than any other 

 known animal. All the weasels are 

 notable for a certain odor which 

 emanates from their persons, but 

 the Skunk is pre-eminent in the 

 utter noisomeness of the stench 

 which it exhales when annoyed or 

 alarmed. To the animal itself, the 

 possession of this horrid eifl avium 

 is a most valuable means of de- 

 fence, for there is no enemy that 

 will dare to attack a creature that 

 has the power of overwhelming its 

 foes with so offensive an odor that 

 they are unable to shake off the 

 pollution for many hours. 



There seems to be no animal 

 that can withstand the influence of 

 this abominable odor. Dogs are 

 trained to hunt this creature, but 

 until they have learned the right 

 mode of attacking the fetid game, 

 they are liable to be driven off in 

 consternation. Dogs that have 

 learned the proper mode of attack- 

 ing the Skunk, do so by leaping 

 suddenly upon the creature, and 

 despatching it before it can emit the fetid secretion. The scent proceeds from a liquid 

 secretion which is formed in some glands near the insertion of the tail, and which can be 

 retained or ejected at will. When the Skunk is alarmed, it raises its bushy tail into a perpen- 

 dicular attitude, turns its back on its enemy, and ejects the nauseous liquid with some force. 

 Should a single drop of this horrid secretion fall on the dress or the skin, it is hardly 

 possible to relieve the tainted object of its disgusting influence. A dog, whose coat had 

 suffered from a discharge of a Skunk's battery, retained the stench for so long a time that 

 even after a week had elapsed it rendered a table useless by rubbing itself against one of the 

 legs, although its fur had been repeatedly washed. The odor of this substance is so penetrating 

 that it taints everything that may be near the spot on which it has fallen, and renders them 

 quite useless-. Provisions rapidly become uneatable, and clothes are so saturated with the 

 vapor that they will retain the smell for sevei'al weeks, even though they are repeatedly washed 

 and dried. It is said that if a drop of the odorous fluid should fall upon the eyes, it will 

 deprive them of sight. Several Indians were seen by Mr. Gresham who had lost the use of 

 their eyes from this cause. 



SKUNK.— Mephitis rarians. 



