18 MUSTELIDiE. 



have more than once, when shooting, been obliged 

 to rush with suspended breath past the spot where a 

 skunk had crossed, and on one occasion was compelled 

 to beat a hasty retreat from a small inn near Chippewa, 

 in consequence of one of these animals having been killed 

 in the cellar several hours previously. In similar cases, 

 it is said that any food in the place, even though not 

 actually touched by the animal, is so infected by the 

 penetrating scent, that it has to be thrown away. Not- 

 withstanding this offensiveness, its own flesh is said to be 

 excellent. The odour, which the skunk emits as a 

 means of defence from its enemies, proceeds from a liquid 

 secreted in two caudal glands ; these having been removed, 

 the animal may be domesticated without fear, and cases 

 are known in which it has become as tame as a cat. 

 Its food is young birds, mice, frogs, and the eggs of 

 ducks or poultry. Its strong and sharp claws enable it to 

 buri'ow or to climb with equal facility; in winter, for 

 instance, it lives entirely underground, but forms its 

 nest in summer and brings forth its young, which are 

 six or eight in number, as often high up in a tree as 

 in its hole. 



The Canadian Otter {Lutra Canadensis), though com- 

 mon enough in all parts of the country, has for some 

 unaccountable reason been singularly misrepresented by 

 various naturalists. 



