808 
IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 
The captives were treated to almost every kind of food available from 
the kitchen as well as fruits, vegetables and various kinds of animal 
food. They seemed to relish a wide range of food, though apparently 
in the pen were sniffed and rolled about but no attempt made to eat 
them. Smaller eggs such as would ordinarily be found in the nests of 
preferring mice and insects to anything else. That the poultry killing 
habit is formed in times of scarcity, usually in winter, has been my 
conclusion after noting the habits of the captives and the behavior of 
those which lived unrestrained about the premises. To test the matter 
fully a young crow was placed in the pen without a roosting place and 
left there for twenty- four hours. Other food was available and the bird 
received scant attention. Later the bird was again placed there and 
left until the animals finally attacked it and would have killed it had 
it not been removed. On one occasion a neighbor caught a little Spotted 
Skunk (interrupta) in a wire trap. As the animal was uninjured I 
brought it home and kept it for twenty-four hours in a small pen with 
no food excepting one mouse. The hens were roosting in a small house 
near at hand on roosts not more than eighteen inches from the ground 
and with an open door. The second evening the skunk was released 
after dark when the family had all entered the house so that there would 
be no danger of frightening it away. The premises apparently were 
attractive to his skunkship for either it remained for some time or 
another similar in appearance did so, for we occasionally saw it moving 
about in the outbuildings or running across the yard. Neither cat or 
dog is kept on the premises as we do not desire to interfere in the least 
with birds or animals under observation. We have kept very close watch 
of the poultry during these observations and feel sure that no poultry 
has been lost from either carnivorous animals or birds of prey without 
our knowledge. Never did this skunk touch a chicken to our knowledge. 
On the other hand the place has been more free from rats and mice 
during its stay than usual. 
On one occasion rats became very troublesome under a big pile of 
cobs in one of the outbuildings. A cat with a fine reputation as a 
ratter was borrowed and confined in the building. She made so little 
impression that she was soon returned to her owner. Not long after 
a small skunk took up its abode in the same building and the rats 
moved out with little delay and less ceremony. The same thing was 
repeated a year or two later minus the cat. During cold weather 
one winter one of these little skunks killed a full grown hen. A trap 
was promptly set beside its victim and the animal disposed of. This 
was the only instance of the kind among a dozen or more observed. They 
