7 2 
MAMMALIA. 
at me. As I remained motionless he climbed up and rested his fore- 
paws on the threshold, so near that I could easily have reached him 
with my hands. After carefully scrutinizing me with his keen, 
black eyes, he began to stamp and scold saucily, and then backed 
slowly off, keeping his eye on me all the while. Scarcely had he 
commenced this quasi-retreat, when he chanced to back into a beech- 
tree that stood near by. Evidently thinking that someone had at- 
tacked him from the rear (risky business!) he whirled about in a jiffy, 
with his tail up and hair on end, growling excitedly, and scampered 
away into the bushes. 
Skunks are so slow to get out of the way that they are often run 
over by vehicles in the evening, and ane liable, under such circum- 
stances, to perfume the establishment unapproachably. I have had 
many such experiences. 
When engaged in the nefarious business of plundering the poultry- 
yard (an iniquity to which he rarely descends) he makes no provision 
for escape, and, in the terse language of Dr. Coues, “ even after dis- 
covery, the Skunk seems to forget the propriety of making off, and 
generally falls a victim to his lack of wit.” 
Skunks remain active throughout the greater part of the year, in 
this region, and hibernate only during the severest portion of the 
winter. They differ from most of our hibernating mammals in that 
the inactive period is, apparently, dependent solely upon the temper- 
ature ; in this respect they resemble the gray squirrel. That the 
amount of snow has no influence upon their movements is evident 
from the fact that they are frequently out, in numbers, when its 
average depth exceeds a metre and a half (a trifle over five feet) 
on the level. Neither can it be a difference in food supply that 
affects them, for at this season they subsist almost wholly upon mice 
and shrews, and I have repeatedly noticed these little beasts scamp- 
ering about on the crisp snow when the thermometer indicated a 
temperature below -30° C. (-20° F.) With us there is apt to be a 
month or six weeks of very cold weather in January or February, and 
