THE LITTLE STRIPED SKUNK. 



One day when Dame Nature was in a 

 merry mood, she made the striped skunks, 

 of which Spilogale putorius, from Florida, 

 and shown herewith, is the type. At this 

 late day it cannot be determined whether 

 her original intention was to turn out a 

 white animal with black markings, or the 

 reverse. At all events, the result is a four- 

 legged harlequin. One glance at him is 

 enough to fix him in the memory for all 

 time, even though the acquaintance stops 

 at sight. 



I am fond of animals generally, but at 

 the skunk I draw the line. I have known 

 him from my small-boyhood, and I'm 

 " agin him." His reputation always was 

 bad, but his acquaintance is worse. He 

 has the colors of a bloody pirate, the im- 

 pudence of a Piegan Indian, and a breath 

 like a turkey buzzard. He gets into your 

 mink traps when you don't want him; he 

 kills your chickens in the "close season," 

 and when your dogs attempt to remonstrate 

 with him, he sends them into quarantine 

 for 14 days. When you are tenting on the 

 plains he is eternally wanting to get in 

 bed with you, even though there are mill- 

 ions of other camping places available. 

 If you object, he bites you, and either 

 gives you hydrophobia, or a tremendous 

 scare. 



In some portions of the South the little 

 striped skunk is commonly called the 

 " Hydrophoby Cat," in the belief that its 



bite always produces that distressing fatal- 

 ity. While it is undoubtedly true that a 

 number of persons have died from skunk 

 rabies, it is also true that even the skunks 

 of the South and Southwest are not half so 

 often afflicted with hydrophobia as people 

 generally suppose. Many persons have 

 been bitten by skunks not so afflicted, and 

 of course without fatal results. The trouble 

 is, however, there is but one way to recog- 

 nize a rabid skunk, and even that is not al- 

 ways satisfactory. Let the skunk bite an 

 Indian. If the Indian dies, the skunk has 

 rabies, and should be killed. If he does not, 

 the skunk is sound and healthy; and the 

 Indian should be killed. 



At present there are 15 species of skunks 

 in the United States — all bad. Ten of these 

 belong to the genus of striped skunks 

 (Spilogale), and several quite closely re- 

 semble the species figured herewith. Nine 

 of the 10 species inhabit the arid regions of 

 the Southwest. 



Mr. Ernest Seton Thompson calls atten- 

 tion, for the first time I believe, to the fact 

 that the little striped skunk is a good ex- 

 ample of protective coloration, inasmuch 

 as " its peculiar black and white markings 

 are calculated to identify the animal with its 

 surroundings Tin the South] when the light 

 sand is barred with the heavy shadows cast 

 by the palmetto fingers, under the rays of 

 the vertical sun." 



Possibly Mr. Thompson has correctly di- 

 vined Natures's intention in coloring this 

 creature so fantastically, but I must say that 



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