THE TELEDU. 
301 
On one occasion, a coach full of passengers was passing along the road, when a Skunk ran 
across the path and tried to push its way through a fence. Not succeeding in so doing, it 
evidently seemed to think that the coach was the cause of its failure, and ceasing its attempt 
to escape, deliberately sent a shower of its vile effluence among the passengers. Secure in its 
means of defence, the Skunk is remarkably quiet and gentle of demeanor, and has more than 
once enticed an unwary passenger to approach it, and to attempt to seize so playful and 
attractive an animal. 
Mr. Audubon has recorded a curious adventure which befel him in his younger days. In 
one of his accustomed rambles, he suddenly came upon a curious little animal, decorated with 
a parti-colored coat and bushy tail, and so apparently gentle in demeanor that he was irresistibly 
impelled to seek a nearer acquaintance. As he approached, the creature did not attempt to 
run away, but awaited his coming with perfect equanimity. Deceived by its gentle aspect, he 
eagerly ran towards the tempting prize, and grasped it by its bushy tail, which it had raised 
perpendicularly as if for the purpose of tempting him to make the assault. He soon repented 
of his temerity, for he had hardly seized the animal when he was overwhelmed with so 
horrible a substance, that his eyes, mouth, and nostrils were equally offended, and he was 
fain to fling away the treacherous foe. After this adventure he became very cautious with 
respect to pretty little playful animals with white backs and bushy tails. 
There is a curious analogy between the mode of defence which is employed by the Skunk 
and that which is used by the cuttle-fish, and in both cases it seems to be the result of 
various emotions, of which fear and combativeness are the chief. 
In its fur, the Skunk is extremely variable, but the general markings of its coat are as 
follows. The fur is of a brown tint, washed with black, and variegated by white streaks along 
its back. The tail is long and extremely bushy, being covered with long hairs of a creamy- 
white hue. Its habitation is commonly in burrows, which it scratches in the ground by means 
of its powerful claws. The creature is about the size of a cat, being about eighteen inches in 
length from the nose to the root of the tail, which measures fourteen or fifteen inches. The 
legs are short, and the animal is not endowed with any great activity by nature. It is an 
American ainmal, and is found towards the northern parts of the continent. 
Scaecely less remarkable for its ill-odor than the skunk, the Teledu is not brought 
so prominently before the public eye as the animal which has just been described. 
It is a native of Java, and seems to be confined to those portions of the country that are 
not less than seven thousand feet above the level of the sea. On certain portions of these 
elevated spots, the Teledu, or Stinkard, as it is popularly called, can always be found. 
The earth is lighter on these spots than in the valleys, and is better suited to the habits 
of the Teledu, which roots in the earth after the manner of hogs, in search of the worms 
and insects which constitute its chief food. This habit of turning up the soil renders it 
very obnoxious to the native agriculturists, as it pursues the worms in their subterraneous 
meanderings, and makes sad havoc among the freshly-planted seeds. It is also in the 
habit of doing much damage to the sprouting plants by eating off their roots. 
We are indebted to Mr. Horsfield for an elaborate and interesting account of the Teledu, 
an animal which he contrived to tame and to watch with singular success. The following 
passages are selected from his memoir. 
“ The Mydaus forms its dwelling at a slight depth beneath the surface, in the black mould, 
with considerable ingenuity. Having selected a spot defended above by the roots of a large 
tree, it constructs a cell or chamber of a globular form, having a diameter of several feet, the 
sides of which it makes perfectly smooth and regular ; this it provides with a subterraneous 
conduit or avenue, about six feet in length, the external entrance to which it conceals with 
twigs and dry leaves. During the day it remains concealed, like a badger in its hole ; at night 
it proceeds in search of its food, which consists of insects and other larvae, and of worms of 
every kind. It is particularly fond of the common lumbrici, or earth-worms, which abound in 
