
Nov. 30, 1907.] 

Skunks Common and Exceptional. 
N. Y., Nov. 14.—-Editor Forest and 
tream: There are skunks and skunks; some 
ommon and some exceptional. The ones, 
nd especially that particular one which Mr. 
ulian Burroughs referred to in a late number 
f your magazine, were the common lot, while 
10se of which I shall speak are of both kinds. 
In handling a dangerous explosive or piece 
f machinery, one must have experience in 
irder to avoid accidents, and so it is in 
landling skunks. I have trapped and shot 
jtany skunks in many parts of North Amer- 
ya, but I have never attempted to pick one 
ip by the tail and kill it as described by Mr. 
lurroughs, although there is no questioning 
he fact that experienced skunk hunters, and 
specially those who dig out the animals, do 
', and are rarely inconvenienced. 
For a long time I was anxious to get some 
jhotographs of skunks to use for an article, 
»» one day I met an old skunk hunter of wide 
yical reputation and put this question to him: 
| “Shorty’’—he is six feet plus in his stock- 
¢ feet—“I understand that you make a prac- 
e of digging into a skunk’s burrow, pulling 
ie animal out by the tail and killing it with 
( club before it_has a chance to get back at 
Wu. Is that so? Ri / 
1“Well,’ was his reply, “if T could get paid 
sain for all the sxunks I've killed that way 
wouldn't have to work for the next five 
ars 
OweEco, 





Are you willing to take me out some day 
hd show me how it is done while I get a 
Aotograph of you holding a skunk by the 
il?” I asked. 
“Say, yesterday me and my boy was out and 
je got two skunks, and just as it come dark, 
le tracked one into a ‘den,’ so we blocked up 
je hole and to-morrow we're going up there 
id get him. If you want to get some skunk 
lectures, come along, and I'll give you all you 
aint 
jI went. It was a beautiful 
ly, a fine day for the camera. No sooner 
|.d we reached the scene of action (a wood- 
juck’s burrow under a stump fence separat- 
\g a field and wood) than we got busy with 

Indian summer 
ick, shovel and axe; that is, Shorty and his 
jn did, while I backed into the field and 
jvaited developments. After digging part 
jily into the burrow, the younger Shorty cut 
stick some three feet long, and lying prone 
the trench thrust it far into the burrow and 
obed promiscuously in search of branching 
nnels. One after another they were found 
d opened up with the excavating tools. Fre- 
ent intervals of rest and prospecting with 
2 stick were necessary before it was proven 
jat the skunk was not in that particular arm. 
last the cry, “I’ve got him!” went up, and 
2 boy backed away from the hole and pointed 
| the protruding stick and Said; /-seer The 
yck moved back and forth slightly as the 
imal at the far end of the burrow rubbed 
jainst it or chewed it. 
|The stick was now withdrawn, and with it 
2 distance to the end of the burrow was 
-‘asured over the surface of the ground, and 
boy began sinking a shaft. His calcula- 
ins were correct, for after half an hour’s 
irk the earth caved in, and through the hole 
: could see a mass of long black and white 
jit. With the exception of a few deep gut- 
jal growls or sniffles when it was being 
C 4 
pdded, the skunk had not made his presence 
ticeable. 
yJntil now the work had heen carried on with 
| siderable rashness, it semed to me; hut at 
48 moment of danger, the younger Shorty 
jjve way to his experienced father, who care- 
ly scraped the dirt from the animal’s back 
{| order to determine in what direction its 
tery was trained. Getting a firm grip on 
animal’s tail, he quickly lifted it into the 
and dangling it at arm’s length, walked 
> the field, and with a gentle sweeping 
tng, tossed it upon the ground, right side 
4.with care. There it stood for a few sec- 
ee regaining its surprised senses, then 
‘ted to amble off. Whichever way it turned, 




FOREST AND STREAM. 
hie 


however, there was some one to stop it, so it 
came to attention, and with its front feet 
stamped the ground, as though to say, we: 
you come closer, I’ll' give you a shower bath.” 
I had approached to within eight feet of the 
animal several times and photographed it, but 
it did not boil over until Shorty abandoned his 
usual method of clubbing it to death while 
he held it by the tail, and tried to dispatch 
it at long range with a rock. 
There chanced to be another ‘skunk in the 
den, a pretty, glossy-pelaged animal, with 
scarcely any white markings, and this one 
proved to be the exception to the rule, the 
one in about every hundred, Shorty afterward 
told me. 
It was successfully lifted from the hole, but 
clinging to its fur was some earth that I 
wished removed before | photographed it, and 
as the grass where I had photographed the 
first one was tall enough to partly hide the 
animal, I innocently asked Shorty if he would 
object to brushing off the dirt and carrying 
the skunk about a hundred yards to a field 
that was browsed close by cattle. 
There is little doubt but that Shorty enjoved 
my company, and was willing to do everything 
reasonable in order that I might accomplish 
my object, but the gingerly manner in which 
he went about it was convincing that he 
thought I was imposing on him. However, 
like my good friend Mr, John Burroughs, he 
was game. 
Now, it has been said that fur trappers are 
cruel, heartless brutes, who have no mercy 
for their victims; but if the reader could have 
witnessed the affectionate, tender manner with 
which Shorty stroked the dirt from that in- 
nocent little animal, he would have been con- 
vinced that there is no truth in such state- 
ments. 
Things were working just as Shorty had 
predicted, and everything was fine. Half the 
distance to the field had been covered, when 
the delicate organs in my nostrils suddenly 
recorded an internal eruption somewhere to 
windward, and turning, I saw the little ani- 
mated Vesuvius spouting mephitic lava up 
Shorty’s sleeve. Others followed in rapid suc- 
cession, and the air fairly vibrated; I could 
even taste it. Still they were slight in com- 
parison to what I have frequently seen when 
a skunk is in its normal position on the 
ground. Before we had reached our destina- 
tion, Shorty was halted several times by these 
eruptions. 
When given its liberty the skunk did not 
attempt to shower us, although, like its mate, 
when hard pressed, it struck an attitude which 
golf players assume just as they shout 
Orel 
These “flare backs” had happened to She: y 
before, but he told me that they were of ‘te 
occurrence, and were always weak, the animal 
seeming not to have the power to discharge 
more than two or three feet. He also drew 
attention to the fact that had it not been that 
1 wanted a photograph, he would have had 
time to kill the animal a dozen times before 
the first “flare back” occurred, and said that if 
he monkeyed with every skunk as he had with 
these two, “flare backs’ would be more fre- 
quent, which certainly seemed plausible. 
From these remarks, Mr. Julian Burroughs 
will see that it is at least not impossible for 
skunks to use their scent glands when held in 
the air by the tail, although from the testi- 
mony of this and other professional skunk 
hunters, they seldom do so under ordinary 
circumstances. 
I wish I had time to recount the several 
amusing experiences that I have had with 
at this writing. 
J. ALDEN LorING, 
skunks, but it is impossible 

Hearing in Fishes. 
ALTHOUGH aratomical observation has proved 
the existence of the organs of hearing in nost 
erecies of fish. said G. P. R. Pulman in his ‘‘Vade 
Mecum of Fly-Fishing for Trout’ (London, 
1851). there can be no question that, as effect- 
ing his sport, the angler need be under no con- 
cern about them. The result of numerous ex- 
periments with firearms and otherwise has con- 
firmed us in the opinion which our own. ex- 
perience had long before induced. * * * Prof. 
James Wilson says: 
‘There is no doubt that fishes possess the power 
of hearing, though merely as a general sense 
of sound, and in all probability without the power 
of perceiving any variety or range of intonation. 
It appears to us that the simple fact of fishes 
being, as a class almost if not entirely mute, 
is of itself a logical ground for believing that 
their perceptions of sound are extremely dull.” 

The Scarcity of Ruffed Grouse. 
Oweco, N. Y., Nov. 18.—Editor Forest and 
Stream: The scarcity of game birds, especially 
the ruffed grouse, in all sections of this State 
is causing considerable discussion among 
sportsmen, and frequent expressions in favor 
of a close season of two years for ruffed 
grouse are heard from different sections of the 
State. 
During the summer months encouraging re- 
ports of the partridge in this locality were 
heard, and an open season of good sport was 
anticipated, but as soon as the season opened 
no birds were to be found, and as the season 
advances this condition still exists. The ques- 
tion naturally arises, Where are the birds? It 
is well known that a large number of old 
birds were left at the close of the season last 
year. No young birds can be found this sea- 
son. What few bags have been brought in 
thus far are invariably old birds, and | have 
heard of only three or four young birds being 
killed. 
On Election day I hunted over nearly one 
hundred acres of cover, ideal in every way 
for partridge, containing abundance of food, 
such as beech nuts, wild grapes and thorn ap- 
ples, and did not flush a single partridge. Two 
years ago they could be found here in con- 
siderable numbers. 
Conflicting reports as to whether the young 
birds hatched have come to my attention. Two 
or three parties have told me that during the 
spring they found nests of the partridge with 
the eggs rotten, and the nests abandoned. 
Several others have told me that they know 
positively of a number of coveys being hatched, 
and that they saw young birds in considerable 
numbers during the blackberry season. I have 
heard of two birds being killed that weighed 
scarcely half a pound each, and one of them 
was covered with lice. I have also heard of 
a farmer who, while out hunting two or three 
weeks ago, found three dead partridges which 
had the appearance of being dead for at least 
a month. 
The consensus of opinion in this locality is 
that a disease of some kind has worked havoc 
among the ruffed grouse, and this, coupled 
with the fact that in some instances the eggs 
failed to hatch, has created an alarming scar- 
city this year. Reports from different parts 
of the State indicate that the same conditions 
exist in all localities, and it would seem that 
the question of a close season for two years 
is one which should receive the hearty support 
of all true sportsmen and the fish and game 
clubs throughout the State, and I trust that 
they will give it the consideration it deserves. 
It is a matter of vital importance to the sports- 
man, the farmer, and the naturalist; and if we 
wish to preserve this king of game birds, now 
is the time for concerted action. 
A close season of two years will give the 
ruffed grouse a chance to recuperate 2nd in- 
crease, and no genuine sportsman will be- 
erudge two idle seasons to his gun and doe 
when the results must redound to his pleasure 
and profit. ye a Bp 
[This communication and others of similar 
character serve to confirm the belief that grouse 
are scarce in nearly all of their favorite haunts 
in the Eastern States. Next week we will nrint 
additional testimony on this important subject, 
and sportsmen are invited to express their views 
in these columns.—EbiTor. ] 

