VIII 
THE SKUNK, CALMLY CONSIDERED 
THE skunk is among the handsomest animals 
in the fields, and carries himself with an air of 
genteel leisure, while he makes no effort to hide 
himself from our admiration. He is not much 
given to going abroad in daylight, though I have 
seen him at high noon; but more frequently you 
meet him at twilight, when he is little disposed to 
make way for you. “I have come near stepping 
upon him,” exclaims Mr. Burroughs, “and was 
much the more disturbed of the two.” If you pay 
no attention to him, he will pass, or let you pass, 
in dignified indifference, going about his business ; 
but if you try to stop him, or follow so inquisi- 
tively as to alarm him, he will make ready to re- 
sent it; and, as the Greeks were to be dreaded 
when bearing gifts, so this foe is most to be feared 
when it turns tail to the enemy. 
Here we are, right at the start, as is inevitable! 
When the word “skunk” is mentioned, the first 
thought in every one’s mind is of the animal’s 
extraordinary ability in getting himself into bad 
odor. Let us take up this matter of the skunk’s 
P 209 
