388 WILD ANIMALS 
animal’s means of defense, and it seems to place much confi- 
dence in it, for it always walks about with great deliberation 
and will not show fear if it happens to meet you. It ranges 
from northern Canada to Mexico and seems to maintain its 
numbers even in thickly settled communities. 
The usual food of skunks is ground squirrels, grasshoppers, 
beetles, and other insects. They are quite beneficial, and 
should therefore be protected 
except when they become a 
nuisance around buildings. 
The animal walks about in 
search of food at all times 
| of the day; but it is also a 
great prowler at night, and 
if it gains entrance into a 
henhouse, it will sometimes 
take little chicks right from 
under the mother hen. 
Skunks make their dens 
at the end of a deep burrow 
in the ground, and there they 
spend the winter months in 
a dormant or inactive con- 
dition. They do not lay in 
a supply of provisions for 
this season, but live on the fat they have stored up within 
their body. 
The fur of the skunk is quite valuable, and many thousands 
of skins are marketed every year. The white parts are 
dyed black, and the- manufactured article is often sold as 
marten and under other names. 
The Badger is found from Minnesota to the Pacific coast 
Raccoon 
Represents still another family of flesh- 
eating animals, 
