296 
ZOOLOGY, 
Merriam has J^nown one to swim nearly a quarter of a mile 
without showing its bead above tlie surface. It lives on fish 
and crayfisb, as well as frogs, and is said to invade the hen- 
yard and even to prey upon young lambs. It can dive and 
swim under water with such speed and agility, that it can 
overtake and secure, with great ease and certainty, almost 
any of our fresh-water fishes." When in winter travel- 
ling on ice they adviince by ^^a run and a slide," i,e,, mak- 
ing several jumps and then sliding ahead flat on their bel- 
lies. The otter is also fond of sliding down hill," both 
in winter on the snow, and in summer down the steep banks 
of stream. We have seen such otter slides" in northern 
Maine, and Merriam re|)orts them as common in the Adi- 
rondacks. The otter is one of our most valuable fur 
animals. Its skin becomes prime in November, remains 
good throughout the winter, and is best in spring. Its nest 
is generally made under some shelving bank, or uprooted 
tree. The young are born about the middle of April, and 
two (rarely one or three) constitute a litter." (Merriam.) 
The skunk {Mephitis viephitica), says Merriam, who 
thinks this malodiu'ous creature has been too much abused, 
is pre-eminently an insect-eater;" he destroys more bee- 
tles, grasshoppers, and the like than all our other mammals 
together, and in addition to these devours vast numbers 
of mice." Skunks hibernate only during the severest 
portion of the winter. They are very prolific, bringing 
forth six to ten young at a birth; these young, with their 
parents, remaining in one hole for the ensuing year. 
The badger {Taxidea Americana) is stout and clumsy, 
the body very flat, with very large fore feet and claws; it 
digs with great rapidity, and lives so secreted a life that 
little is known of its habits. It lives in holes in the 
ground and keeps out of sight. It is now most abun- 
dant in the Upper Missouri, where its burrows are nu- 
merous. It preys on prairie-dogs and spermophiles. The 
badger, too slow, says Coues, to capture the nimble ro- 
dents which form its principal food, perpetually seeks 
