The Skunk Mammals 
his manoeuvers. When a grasshopper jumped he 
jumped, and I have seen him with as many as three 
in his mouth, and two under his forepaws at one 
time.” 
Miss Evelyn Groesback Mitchell had a pet skunk 
whose scent-glands had been removed. She writes 
his story thus: 
“Billy was not shut up, no indeed! He trotted 
about the house like a cat. He looked far prettier 
than most cats and was as fond of being petted al- 
though it was no easy task to-catch hold of him ex- 
cept by the tail, which proved a convenient handle. 
All day he would sleep in his box until late afternoon, 
then tumble out and start on a regular rampage. 
Little busybody that he was, every corner of the 
rooms must be inspected. Under all the furniture 
he would go, nosing about, picking and pulling at 
every new object. Sometimes he would rout out a 
spider or croton bug on which he would pounce, 
gobbling it down in a twinkling. Anything that 
looked like a hole was carefully inspected. - It was 
his delight to crawl into paper bags and shoes. The 
waste basket was a favorite diversion. Scaling the 
side until the basket upset, he would proceed to 
scatter the contents from Dan to Beersheba, then, 
seizing the basket by the bottom, he would rush 
backward about the room. If anyone tried to 
catch him to stop his careering, he stamped and spit 
like a bad child. 
Billy was easy to feed, eating vegetables, fruit, 
meat, almost anything but potatoes and white bread. 
He loved to chew bones and was very fond of sweets. 
Soon he learned to sit up and beg and could even be 
induced to walk a few steps on his hind feet after 
choice morsels. 
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