288 DENIZENS OF THE DESERT 



was n't she proud of them ! She brought 'em 

 into the house there and showed 'em off to me 

 like the proudest mother you ever saw. And 

 the old mother skunk and the kittens used to 

 play around and purr and I 'd give 'em stuff to 

 eat, and we just had a great time of it, them 

 skunks and I. It took all the loneliness out of 

 me, and I never will fergit 'em. Never a mouse 

 did I have around the place so long as they was 

 there. Better 'n old cats, they are, to catch mice 

 any time." 



My friend, Dr. J. H. Kocher, recently told 

 me of an experience in the open that further 

 corroborates the prospector's opinion of the 

 playful nature of skunks. 



" Carl Eytel and I were camping out near the 

 Keyes Ranch in the mountains bordering the 

 Colorado Desert on the north," said the doctor. 

 "The sky was overcast all the afternoon, and 

 toward evening it began to drizzle a little, so 

 that we were concerned about shelter. As luck 

 would have it some trappers who were camping 

 in the vicinity asked us to spend the night in an 

 extra tent they had near their camp and which 

 they were not using. There were lots of things 



