272 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 
enough only to keep out dogs and other dis- 
turbers. The breeding-cages should have hol- 
low logs or underground vaults of stone or con- 
crete as nesting-dens; and all retiring-quarters 
must be roofed with a stout wire mesh to pro- 
tect the occupants from great horned owls—the 
skunk’s worst enemy—big dogs and other ma- 
rauders. 
If the skunks are not frightened by rough 
treatment there is little or no danger from the 
musk-gun—an instrument kept as a last resort; 
in fact captive skunks easily become docile and 
often affectionate and amusing pets. The best 
way to kill them, when that sad necessity arises, 
is by smothering with illuminating gas or some 
similar agent, or by drowning. The finest, 
blackest specimens should be selected for keep- 
ing as breeders,—the less white on a pelt the 
more valuable it is. It might be possible, in a 
few generations, to get a strain that should be 
wholly black. 
