Cambridge, Mass.
1902
August
(No 9)
  At some time before daylight on the morning of the
20th I was awakened by the overpowering odor of a Skunk
which penetrated through the open window of our bedroom.
At 7 A.M. I found the animal in the area in front of
the cellar window at the north-east end of the house. It was
curled up asleep on the ground at the bottom of the area
into which it must have jumped or fallen during the night.
When I advanced to the edge it awoke and looked up at
me with mild curiosity but with no expression of either
fear or nerves. it was a young Skunk about two-thirds
grown and largely white with a white stripe running
down the center of the forehead and a pure white tail.
It had dug dozens of holes in the lawn evidently in
search of grubs or crickets and I found where it had
entered the garden by scraping a shallow trench under
the wire fence. It remained curled up & sleeping quietly
during the entire day and at evening when twilight was
falling had not fully awakened. No trace of its pungent
odor was observed by us during the day or indeed in
the morning after sunrise.
  During the second night we smelt it again strongly in one
chamber but by the second morning the scent had again
disappeared. It had eaten a Robin which I had found dead
on the lawn & thrown into the area. It remained sleeping
through the second day & departed the third night climbing 
out of the area by means of the wire screen which was plastered
with dirt and scraping another hole under the wire fence.
During the first day there were a number of Toads of various sizes
in the area. I saw one of them climb up on the Skunk's back.
He killed them all the following night but did not eat any of them.
Before departing he ate two Pigeons' eggs & one or two Hens' eggs which
I had put in the area.
A Skunk in the Garden
76