The Skunk 37 



means he often succeeds in evading his worst enemies, 

 dog and man. One day I came upon a skunk in a 

 ploughed field. He at once began to burrow into the 

 soil, and in three minutes, was out of sight; later 

 he emerged some fifteen feet from the spot where he 

 had disappeared. 



Contrary to what we should expect, the burrow of 

 the skunk is usually free from the odor of the essence, 

 particularly when the young are helpless. The 

 natural odor of the body, also, is far less noticeable 

 than that of either the woodchuck or the opossum. 

 The abode is frequently changed, but is usually 

 located near the edge of the woods. As cold weather 

 approaches these changes become less frequent, espe- 

 cially with the old skunks, and they settle upon a 

 permanent abode to which, in preparation for winter 

 hibernation, they carry for a bed quite a quantity of 

 dried grass and leaves. 



This "holing up," or hibernation, becomes more 

 marked as we go farther north, the degree of hiberna- 

 tion corresponding with the severity of the winter. 

 The period of inactivity is broken several times 

 during the season, when the weather becomes mild 

 for two or three days at a time. Such times are 

 known among the trappers as a "skunk-run," and 

 are likely to occur during January thaws, and 



