278 
IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE Vol. XXIY, 1917 
variation in size, some being twice as large as others. Weasels 
have always had about the same abundance as at present, ac- 
cording to two observers (4, 8). 
Badger (Taxidea taxus) There is a specimen in the Smith 
collection, which was captured when it was small and was raised 
as a pet until the approach of the first winter after its capture. 
Badgers were common all over the prairies until about 1870 but 
there were none in the timber (3). Other men reported them 
common (2, 4). A few badger remain yet. One of my neigh- 
bors trapped one near Wall Lake in the winter of 1913-14. Some 
are still found in the hills south of this town, according to re- 
ports given in the summer of 1916 by farmers living in the 
vicinity. In the years 1911 and 1912 a badger dug many holes 
in the pasture and fields of my father’s farm while it was pur- 
suing thirteen-lined and Franklin’s spermophiles. 
Large Striped Skunk {Mephitis mesomelas avia). Specimen 
in the Smith collection. These are rare at the present day, and 
there are. ten or more little spotted skunks to one large striped 
skunk. In early days they were found all over the prairie and 
in the timber (3). One man saw twelve taken from one hole 
(4). One man reports them not common about 1870 but that 
they became common fifteen to eighteen years later (8). 
Little Spotted Skunk ( Spilogale interupta) . This skunk is 
commonly called “civet cat.” The first civet cats were trapped 
in 1858, but they must have been at Grant grove before (3). 
They did not spread out from the timber and become plentiful 
until about 1890 to 1900 (8, 2). They are now common in both 
the prairie and timbered portions of the country. About 1905 
I trapped thirty-two in one year on my father’s farm. 
Red Fox, Cross Fox, Silver Fox ( Vulpes fulva f-ulva) . Red 
fox were common before 1880 to 1885. About this date there was 
brought to Sac City a pack of hounds, which ran nearly all the 
foxes out of the country (2). The red foxes and varieties all 
stayed on the prairie and not in the timber, in the early days 
(3). The same man reported that many foxes were killed by 
the use of strychnine (3). In 1864 one man and his partners 
trapped thirty-seven foxes. A few of them were cross foxes 
worth $5 each ; one, a silver fox which was worth $15 • and the 
others were red foxes worth $1 to $1.50 each (4). My father 
saw a red fox near Wall Lake in 1875 (7). An occasional red 
