164 FAMILIAR LIFE IN" FIELD AND FOREST. 



modern stately colonial residence lias been visited by 

 him, and the evidence of his presence has wafted in 

 the open window of the parlor during a warm sum- 

 mer evening and changed the countenance of many 

 a stickler for propriety. Now, if the hostess should 

 remonstrate, with the intrusive skunk, and the latter 

 could speak, he would undoubtedly reply with some 

 assurance, " If you do not like my neighborhood and 

 kind of perfumery you should not have located on 

 my territory ; your drawing-room, like a weed, is a 

 thing out of place ! " The greater part of the coun- 

 try has always been the skunk's, and the site of one 

 of our great cities (Chicago) * was once his favorite 

 stamping ground. But, as I shall attempt to prove, he 

 deserves more attention and less evasion ; perhaps if 

 we knew more about him his character would grow 

 in our estimation, and we might cease to consider him 

 the " most disgusting thing in all creation." Interest 

 in so remarkable an animal, therefore, induced me to 

 search through his record and find some naturalist 

 who would know all about him. It must be confessed 

 that there is some difficulty in picking up knowledge 

 about an animal which one does not dare to approach 

 nearer than ten yards. To bridge over that ten yards 

 by another's experience, instead of pursuing investi- 



* The Indian name Chicago means the place of the skunk. 



