25 



Alleghenian Spotted Skunk, Spilogale putorius Linn. 



Recorded only from the lower parts of the southtern and south- 

 eastern sections of the State. Thaddeus Surber has taken it at 

 White Sulphur Springs where he says it is very rare. Alexander 

 Wolf, a fur buyer of Huntington, says he gets a few skins of this 

 species every j'ear, mostly from the valley of the Big Sandy river. 



At Franklin, Pendleton county, spotted skunks have been rather 

 common for several years. 17 skins of this skimk were seen in two 

 stores at Franklin in January, 1910. T. J. Bowonan, who lives near 

 that town, caught four in two weeks trapping in the winter of 1909- 

 10. A skin of one of these is in my possession. It is reported by 

 trappers as being found all along the valley of the South Branch of 

 the Potomac although it is everywhere outnumbered by the larger 

 species of skunk. The pelts of the striped skunks sell in the coim- 

 try stores at about 50 cents each while those of the common skunk 

 are worth several times as much. 



The spotted skunk is but little more than half the size of the more 

 common species. It is rather handsome, being black with spots and 

 broken stripes of white along the back and sides. The bushy tail 

 has a white tip. It has the offensive odor common to skunks, which 

 it is very free to make use of when disturbed. Hunters have told 

 me that when chased by dogs it will sometimes climb a straight 

 tree to a height of 50 feet or more. 



This animal commonly goes by the name of "civit cat" which is 

 a misnomer, as that name belongs more appropriately to the Amer- 

 ican ciA'it cat, a raccoon-like animal that inhabits Mexico and the 

 south-eastern part of the United States. 



Notes on the range of this skunk in West Virginia are desired. 



^lountain IMink or Black ]\Iink, Putorius vison Schreber. 



Foimd only in our more boreal regions. Surber says it occurs 

 only in the spruce belt. Frank Houehin has taken it in the vicin- 

 ity of Cranberry Glades where, he states, it wanders farther and 

 more constantly away from streams of water than the brown mink 

 described next. Smaller than the brown mink and the color a 

 darker shade of brown, in some cases being almost black. 



