7o 
MAMMALIA. 
takes up his abode under one of the outbuildings ; or, retiring to a 
neighboring grove, may make his nest under an old stump, or dig a 
hole into some wooded knoll or side-hill hard by. Being loath to 
intrude the presence of man, he sleeps away the day, and at nightfall 
comes forth to wander through the garden, orchard, and meadow, to 
prey upon the insects that feast upon the product of man’s toil. 
He is ot the greatest practical value to the hop-grower, for he fre- 
quents the hop-yard with great regularity, and greedily devours the 
insect pests that, from their numbers and destructiveness, always in- 
jure, and sometimes ruin the crop. Such is the extent and impor- 
tance of the services rendered in this direction that, at a recent Ses- 
sion of our State Legislature, a bill was introduced for his protection. 
Indeed, the benefit that accrues to the farmer from the occupancy of 
his premises by a family of these useful animals can hardly be over- 
estimated. They are large eaters and subsist almost exclusively upon 
his greatest enemies — insects and mice. Of the truth of this assertion 
he may easily convince himself by merely taking the trouble to ex- 
amine any bit of “ Skunk sign" that he happens to come across; for, 
in the summer season, their dejections consist wholly of the indi- 
gestible chitenous coverings of beetles, grasshoppers and other in- 
sects. The raids that some ot their numbers occasionally make upon 
his poultry-yard are more than compensated for by the constant and 
unremitting services of the entire family in ridding his fields and 
garden of the vermin that destroy his crops. In fact, I do not hesitate 
to assert that a single Skunk nets the farmer more, in dollars and 
cents, each year, than he loses from their depredations during 
his entire life-time. And yet so short-sighted is he, that he rarely 
lets slip a chance to kill one; and were they more diurnal in habits 
their race would doubtless, ere now, be well-nigh exterminated. 
Many of our mammals are noted for their beauty and attractive 
appearance, but amongst them it would be difficult to find a pret- 
tier beast than the Skunk. He was not built after the most grace- 
ful of patterns, to be sure, and it must be acknowledged that his 
