300 
THE SKUNK. 
repositories, it sets itself determinately to work, tears away all obstacles, and does extreme 
damage to the provisions, by eating all the meat, and scattering on every side all the 
vegetable food. 
In captivity, its greatest dainty is said to be the body of a cat, for which strange diet it 
will leave every other kind of food. 
The Wolverene is not a very prolific animal, as it seldom produces more than two at a 
birth. The maternal residence is generally placed in the crevice of a rock, or in some secluded 
situation, and the young Wolver- 
enes make their appearance about 
May. 
S KU N K . —Meph ids varians. 
The Skuhk has obtained the 
unenviable reputation of being liter- 
ally in worse odor than any other 
known animal. All the weasels are 
notable for a certain odor which 
emanates from their persons, but 
the Skunk is pre-eminent in the 
utter noisomeness of the stench 
which it exhales when annoyed or 
alarmed. To the animal itself, the 
possession of this horrid effluvium 
is a most valuable means of de- 
fence, for there is no enemy that 
Avill dare to attack a creature that 
has the power of overwhelming its 
foes with, so offensive an odor that 
they are unable to shake off the 
pollution for many hours. 
There seems to be no animal 
that can withstand the influence of 
this abominable odor. Dogs are 
trained to hunt this creature, but 
until they have learned the right 
mode of attacking the fetid game, 
they are liable to be driven off in 
consternation. Dogs that have 
learned the proper mode of attack- 
ing the Skunk, do so by leaping 
suddenly upon the creature, and 
The scent proceeds from a liquid 
despatching it before it can emit the fetid secretion, 
secretion which is formed in some glands near the insertion of the tail, and which can be 
retained or ejected at will. Wlien the Skunk is alarmed, it raises its bushy tail into a perpen- 
dicular attitude, turns its back on its enemy, and ejects the nauseous liquid with some force. 
Should a single drop of this horrid secretion fall on the dress or the skin, it is hardly 
possible to relieve the tainted object of its disgusting influence. A dog, whose coat had 
suffered from a discharge of a Skunk’ s battery, retained the stench for so long a time that 
even after a week had elapsed it rendered a table useless by rubbing itself against one of the 
legs, although its fur had been repeatedly washed. The odor of this substance is so penetrating 
that it taints everything that may be near the spot on which it has fallen, and renders them 
quite useless. Provisions rapidly become uneatable, and clothes are so saturated with the 
vapor that they will retain the smell for several weeks, even though they are repeatedly washed 
and dried. It is said that if a drop of the odorous fluid should fall upon the eyes, it will 
deprive them of sight. Several Indians were seen by Mr. Gresham who had lost the use of 
their eyes from this cause. 
