THE SPOTTED SKUNK 285 



ethereal oil was shot into the grass immediately 

 beside my head, and the odor was so strong that 

 I was overcome and at least for several minutes 

 was quite unaware of all that happened around 

 me. As I came to my full consciousness, I found 

 my eyes smarting and my nostrils inflamed. 

 Had I been so unfortunate as to have been in 

 the direct path of discharge I might have fared 

 badly. Persons who have been hit directly in 

 the eye have been known to lose their sight. 



The odor of the spotted skunk is not very 

 lasting in dry, sunshiny weather, and after I 

 burned off the grass next morning I found all 

 traces of the foulsome scent gone. The odor of 

 the striped skunk is much more nearly perma- 

 nent. Back of my camp on the Colorado Desert 

 I have a beautiful tussock of squaw grass 

 {Epicampes rigens) much resembling, though 

 much smaller, the pampas grass of Argentine. 

 On several occasions I had noticed that there 

 was a beaten circular path beneath it, but who 

 the pathmakers were I did not know. One night 

 I heard something playing under my cot, and, 

 stretching my head over the side, I saw by the 

 aid of the moonlight a couple of playful skunks. 



