vii THE SKUNK, CALMLY CONSIDERED 247 
rabies, independent of canine rabies; while others 
assert that it is simply canine madness com- 
municated to skunks by some mad dog, fox, or 
wolf, and thence started as a local epidemic among 
the skunks of the neighborhood. My own view 
inclines to the latter opinion. Certainly the bite 
of a skunk is ordinarily no more to be feared than 
that of any other wild animal, wounds from whose 
teeth are always liable, to be followed by blood- 
poisoning due to particles of corrupt flesh adher- 
ing to the teeth and left in the wounds. 
What has been said in all the foregoing pages 
applies to skunks in general, as a study of char- 
acter, habits, and qualities, though more especially 
to the common Northern species known in zodlogy. 
as Mephitis mephiteca. Inthe southwestern United 
States and northern Mexico two other very similar 
species are distinguished, — Mephitis macrura and 
_M. estor. In addition to this a closely allied 
group of skunks inhabits the warmer parts of the 
continent, known as the Little Striped Skunks, 
and constituting the genus Spilogale. These are 
decidedly smaller than Mephitis, and instead of the 
two more or less broad stripes reaching backward 
from the nape of the neck on each side of the 
spine (their shape and extent is very variable), 
four narrow and often broken and irregular white 
stripes lie upon the neck and shoulders, while the 
sides and rump are marked by transverse curving 
lines and spots; these lines are subject to great 
