1881 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
399 
Skunks—The Texan White-backed. 
(Mephitis mesoleuca). 
It is so common to speak of the skunk, that 
many have the impression that there is but 
one animal to which the name belongs, while 
there are within the United States at least 
five distinct spe¬ 
cies, and perhaps 
nearly as 'many 
more in the ad¬ 
jacent Mexican 
territory. The 
name, Skunk, 
said to come from 
some Indian lan¬ 
guage ; the scien¬ 
tific name for the 
genus of animals 
is Mephitis, and is 
an ancient Latin 
name for “a noxi¬ 
ous, pestilential 
exhalation from 
the ground,” and 
has reference to 
one of the most 
marked peculiari¬ 
ties of these ani¬ 
mals. The skunks 
are classed among 
the carnivorous 
animals, and are 
1 ated on the one 
1 to the Ot- 
■nd on the other to the Badgers. The genus 
'tis is described in brief as having : “ an 
ated body, a pointed nose, feet especial- 
apted for digging, the anterior claws 
jest, and the soles usually naked ; tail long 
1 bushy ; the upper posterior molar very 
,arge, and nearly square ; color black, with 
white markings.” This description does not 
include the peculiar characteristic of these 
animals—the offensive liquid which they se¬ 
crete. This is 
produced by two 
glands which 
discharge into 
the rectum, the 
glands being pro¬ 
vided with a 
membrane, the 
sudden contrac¬ 
tion of which al¬ 
lows them to 
throw the liquid 
to a distance of 
12 or 15 feet. It is 
said that at night 
the liquid is phos¬ 
phorescent. The 
common Skunk 
of the Northern 
States is Mephitis 
Mephitica, and 
has a very wide 
range, being 
found from New 
England to Lou¬ 
isiana, and as far 
west as Nebraska. 
Its length is a 
little less than 20 inches, with the tail 
about 13 inches additional. The color 
is mainly black with a broad triangular 
white patch at the nape of the neck, which 
continues with a narrow line on each side of 
the back. Though generally regarded as an 
enemy to the farmer, as it often makes its 
way into poultry houses, it is by many re¬ 
garded as beneficial on account of the vast 
numbers of the “White Grub” it destroys, 
and a recent attempt was made to protect it 
by law in the legislature of one of our States. 
When a Skunk is taken young, and has its 
j odoriferous glands removed, it makes an in¬ 
offensive but rather sluggish pet. The flesh 
; is sometimes eaten, and is said to resemble 
that of the Coon. When Texas and Cali¬ 
fornia were added to our territory, they not 
only added largely to our Flora, but in the 
number of their new animals greatly in¬ 
creased our Fauna. In the way of Skunks, 
each of these States adds one, if not two 
new species to the list. The White-backed 
Skunk ( Mephitis mesoleuca), of Texas, differs 
from our common species in various respects. 
Its body is very broad behind, and in walk¬ 
ing it carries its head near the ground, while 
its back is strongly arched. One of its 
marked characters is its naked muzzle, which 
is without hairs for one inch or more from 
the end. Its forehead is rounded, eyes small, 
and ears short. The hair on the body of this 
species, as in all others, is black, but there is 
a remarkable white stripe on the back ; this, 
as shown in the engraving, begins at the 
middle of the crown, and extends backwards 
to the tail: this 
strip widens on 
the body to in¬ 
clude about half 
of the back, and 
narrows towards 
the tail, which 
is also entirely 
white. With the 
exception of a 
white hair here 
and there, the 
under parts of the 
body are entirely 
black. This spe¬ 
cies is about 18 
inches in length, 
with a tail about 
12 inches long, 
and weighs be¬ 
tween four and 
five pounds. The 
few accounts of 
this Skunk go to 
show that its 
odor-bearing 
qualities are not 
different from 
those of its northern relative, and it is quite 
as unwelcome. The geographical limits of 
this Skunk are not well ascei’tained, but it 
has been met with in the “Staked Plains” 
of New Mexico, and is reported as quite 
common in Western Texas. According to 
Audubon, “ Its food consists, in part, of 
grubs, beetles, and other insects, and occa¬ 
sionally a small quadruped or bird, the eggs 
of birds, and, in fact, anything which this 
camiverous but 
timid animal can 
appropriate to its 
sustenance.” Like 
the northern 
Skunk, this finds 
a retreat in hol¬ 
lows at the roots 
of large trees, in 
cavities under 
rocks, and in sim¬ 
ilar places. The 
plantations of the 
Texans, and 
Northern Mex, 
icans afford it a 
foraging ground. 
for eggs and 
young chickens. 
There is also 
found in Texas 
and California the 
“Little Striped 
Skunk,” about 
which but little 
seems to be 
known, though it 
is said to be of 
great beauty. It is said to be about four inches 
long and handsomely striped with black and 
white. Though diminative, it is quite as able 
to exert a wide-spread influence as its larger 
brethren, and to make its presence known in 
a locality in quite as unmistakable a manner. 
THE WHITE-BACKED TEXAN SKUNK. 
THE BLACK-LEGGED AMERICAN FERRET.— (Sei next page.) 
