CHAP. vil THE SKUNK, CALMLY CONSIDERED 217 
raising one of its hind legs. Its aim is taken with 
the utmost accuracy, and it can repeat the dis- 
charge several times, having a magazine gun at 
command. A simple surgical operation, if made 
by intelligent hands, will extract these glands, or 
cut the duct leading from the capsule to the nipple- 
like orifice, after which the animal is powerless for 
harm, —a precaution highly judicious in the case 
of a domesticated example of this species, if one 
values his peace of mind! 
Having thus rendered our subject innocuous, we 
may now proceed to study him, for he is one of the 
prettiest and most interesting of all our wild ani- 
mals. | : 
The skunk is about the size of a cat, but has 
more nearly the shape of a raccoon, being taller 
behind than about the fore quarters, and with a 
pointed, somewhat pig-like snout; this form, and 
his plantigrade feet, account for that mincing gait 
characteristic of him. His fur is long, thick, and 
glossy black variegated with pure white. The 
white runs in a narrow stripe up the nose, expands 
behind the ears into a saddle-like patch on the 
nape of the neck, then narrows backward over the 
shoulder, and there divides, a stripe curving back- 
ward and downward on each side, leaving an in- 
tensely black, wedge-shaped tract between them, 
continued over the upper surface of the bushy 
tail. The under surface and tip of the tail are also 
white. This is the common Northern kind. His 
