The Skunk Mammals 
but an end-to-end serpentine wriggle so that he looked 
like two skunks with half a dozen tails, and the 
water flew in all directions. After a good drying in 
a rough towel he was as pretty and fluffy as could 
be.” 
To the farmer the skunk is a most useful animal 
despite its tendency to raid hen-roosts, for its chief 
food consists of grasshoppers, other injurious insects, 
and field mice. Its home is in a deep burrow, usu- 
ally made by itself; but sometimes a woodchuck’s 
deserted burrow is utilized; or it may find a nest in a 
cozy crevice in a stone wall, or in a hollow stump. 
At the end of the burrow there is a nice bed of leaves 
where it lies cuddled up in the coldest of weather, 
although it comes out during the winter thaws 
hunting for food. 
The little skunks are born early in the spring, and 
in May they are often seen, six to ten of them, fol- 
lowing their mother afield on warm, dark nights to 
hunt for insects. They form a charming and play- 
ful family; but if one of them is to be secured for a 
pet, it certainly would be well to take it to a vet- 
erinarian and have the scent glands properly removed. 
HOUSE 
_ While Dr. Merriam’s skunks had the range of 
the premises, he says of Meph; “His nest was in a 
a box at the foot of the stairs, and before he grew 
strong enough to climb out by himself, he would, 
whenever he saw him coming, stand on his hind legs, 
with his paws resting on the edge of the box, and beg 
to be carried up stairs.’” Thus it would seem the 
skunk naturally desires a nest even though it may 
be given its freedom. 
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