Fhoto by George Shiras, 3rd 

 the: flash SECURl^S A PAIR 01^ RABBITS AT BAIT IN THE:iR BROWN, SUMMER COATS 



negative unexpectedly showed a skunk 

 pulling on a husked ear of corn that had 

 "been used as bait (see page 795). There- 

 after the coons disappeared., whether 

 because the supply of corn had about 

 given out, or because the combined pres- 

 ence of skunks and the flashlight proved 

 too much for their constitution, I could 

 not tell. The next afternoon, hearing 

 a noise under the dark-room floor, I 

 examined the outer wall where a drain- 

 pipe passed through, and there was a 

 fresh tunnel in the sand, showing that 

 a skunk had selected his winter quarters. 

 The same night a camera and flashlight 

 apparatus faced the opening, while a 

 string with a piece of bacon dangled 

 from the wall. 



At dinner every one jumped at the 

 tiear-by explosion. When, a few minutes 

 later, the negative was in the developer, 

 and the image of not one but two skunks 

 began to appear, I could hear the ani- 

 mals moving about almost under my feet. 

 To have thus taken a picture of wild ani- 

 mals within three feet of the dark-room 

 and then developed the plate in even 

 closer proximity to the living forms rep- 

 resents an occurrence never likely to be 

 repeated (see page 796). 



On leaving camp shortly thereafter, 

 orders were given to the care-taker to 

 trap these undesirable tenants, and as I 

 write perhaps some furrier is now busily 

 engaged in converting their humble pelts 

 into furs designated by such high-sound- 



ing names as black fox or Alaska sable. 

 The experiences of past years, narrated 

 hereafter, compelled such summary dis- 

 posal of animals usually unobjectionable 

 except when claiming a joint tenancy in 

 the abode of man. 



SOME ADVI;NTURE:S WITH SKUNKS 



Just as a coon once, in a single night, 

 killed all the young chickens raised for 

 camp use, on another occasion the dead 

 bodies of 48 half-grown chickens were 

 found on the floor of the poultry-house, 

 each with its throat pierced by a single 

 incision of sharp teeth and hardly a 

 feather ruffled, since the animal was sat- 

 isfied with a few' drops of blood sucked 

 from the throat of each. 



Setting the trap the next night, a half- 

 grown skunk was caught, whose beady 

 little eyes and shrinking body made a 

 picture of despair. But such wholesale 

 murder forbade clemency.* 



While the skunk will usually depart 

 at the sight of man, they are often set in 

 their ways, when traveling a narrow path 

 refusing to yield the right of way to one 

 coming from an opposite direction. 



* It may be stated here that there is a short 

 period, following the withdrawal of maternal 

 care, when the young chickens of all the 

 broods flock together at night before they have 

 learned to roost off the ground, and then a 

 visit of a predatory animal is apt to be dis- 

 astrous. I have often felt, however, that it 

 is the younger of the carnivorous animals, like 

 the youth of mankind, which are often reckless 

 in the enjoyment of unusual opportunities. 



790 



