289 
April, 1913 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
decayed stump in the corner of the 
garden, where a nest made by white¬ 
footed mice — the dainty, large-eyed 
little fellows shown on these pages — 
has been torn out and strewn upon the 
snow, and finally leaves the garden by 
the cow-path running through the 
pasture. We may be reasonably sure, 
then, that we have a fox living not far 
away, and if we are not so careless as 
to leave our poultry out at night, we 
may find him a very useful neighbor. 
In spite of his bad reputation as a 
poultry thief, he is a persistent de¬ 
stroyer of wild mice the year round, 
and in the late summer spends a large 
part of his time catching grasshoppers, 
which often form the principal part of 
his diet at this season. 
Or, we may detect the presence of 
a fox by his odor, not unlike that 
of the skunk, but milder and quite 
distinguishable. We 
often notice it when 
passing the spot 
where a fox has spent _ 
the night curled^up. - • 
on some hillside, per¬ 
haps. It is not/^i .dis¬ 
agreeable odor, and 
to one in sympathy 
with outdoor things, 
always interesting. 
Speaking of scents, 
we are too apt to be 
prejudiced by oft-re¬ 
peated statements of 
those who in turn 
have been prejudiced 
by similar statements. 
For example, the de¬ 
fensive odor of the 
skunk has for hun¬ 
dreds of years been 
referred to as vile and 
offensive, and when¬ 
ever we smell it we are apt, 
without doing a bit of think¬ 
ing for ourselves, to pass the 
adjectives along. Now, as a 
matter of fact, the odor of 
the skunk, while overpower¬ 
ing when in large quantities 
.and at close quarters, is not, 
comparatively speaking, an 
offensive one when perceived 
at a little distance and in the 
open. It is a live, pungent, 
animal odor, not at all in the 
class with decaying carrion, 
badly kept drains and things 
of that sort, and if we free 
ourselves from prejudice in 
the matter, 
and do our 
own thinking, we shall not be bothered 
in the least by it, unless the defensive 
fluid comes in actual contact with our 
persons. And even if it does, we can 
hang our clothing in the sun and wind 
and the odor quickly disappears, and 
I am informed on excellent authority 
that if one will but stand in the smoke 
of damp hay for a few minutes, he 
may pass into the house without any¬ 
one being aware that he has been hav¬ 
ing a tete-a-tete with a “wood pussy.” 
If we live near large woods, where 
there are big hollow trees or rocky 
ledges, we are apt at any time to re¬ 
ceive a visit from our neighbor the 
raccoon. If we are careless and leave 
our poultry houses open at night, the 
ring-tailed fellow is 
pretty sure to make a 
nuisance of 
himself 
in some way or 
another, but otherwise 
he is a very interesting 
neighbor to have 
about. Some day, 
perhaps, when we are 
walking through the 
woodland we shall see 
the younger members 
of the family, peering 
from the entrance of 
their home high up in 
some hollow tree, or 
scrambling after one 
another over the big 
trunk. Comical-look¬ 
ing little fellows they 
are, with bright eyes 
peering from their 
black masks. Some¬ 
times we may come 
upon a full-grown 
one near the edge of 
a cornfield, deftly stripping 
the covering from a stolen 
ear of corn; or perhaps we 
shall see him close to the 
edge of a stream, washing a 
mouse or some other food 
before eating. This washing 
of its food is an unusual 
habit, and is responsible fo^ 
the raccoon s German name 
of II asche Bar or washing 
bear. The animal does not 
acquire the habit by instruc¬ 
tion from the parents or by 
observation as some writers 
would have us believe; it is 
inherited. Young raccoons 
which I have taken from the 
nest at a very tender age, 
and long before they had 
(Continued on page 309) 
F°d squirrels are attractive in many ways, but they 
have a bad habit of destroying birds’ nests 
Gentle and timid as it is, the gray rabbit is not much afraid of us if we exercise a little care 
A meadow mouse rises on its hind legs, a characteristic attitude 
