VIII THE SKUNK, CALMLY CONSIDERED 245 



sylvania. In several localities, in fact, large en- 

 closures have been set apart for the breeding and 

 rearing of these animals for profit, such places 

 being known as " skunkeries." No animal is more 

 easily trapped. He seems to be stupid beyond 

 belief in this respect, and will walk into a deadfall, 

 or step into a spring-trap or get himself caught in 

 almost any simple device that most animals would 

 simply laugh at. One favorite trick is to climb 

 into a barrel that he knows or fancies contains 

 something good to eat, without heeding that he 

 cannot climb out again. Merriam says that a 

 steel trap, set at the mouth of an inhabited burrow 

 will often capture the entire family at the rate of 

 one a night. " In winter half a dozen or more 

 may sometimes be taken in a single night, in the 

 following manner : the hunter treads a narrow 

 path in the snow, leading from the mouth of the 

 hole away in the direction of some favorite resort, 

 and, at intervals along this path, the traps are set 

 in the snow. At nightfall, when the skunks come 

 out, they march, single file, down the path, the 

 mother usually taking the lead. The head one is 

 generally caught in the first trap, and the others 

 climb over the resulting obstruction, and move on 

 till a second is taken, and a third, and so on." 



The flesh is edible. Not only were the Indians 

 everywhere fond of it, but most white men, who 

 have been able to forget the associations of the 

 name, agree that the flesh is white, tender, juicy, 



