














































































































932 
FOREST AND STREAM. 

[DEc. 14, 1907. 

Carrying Skunks by their Tails. 
LittLte Faris, N. Y., Nov. 30——Editor Forest 
and Stream: On Nov. 9 the Forest anp STREAM 
printed a letter from my friend Julian Burroughs 
about how his father, John Burroughs, lifted and 
carried a skunk by the tail, nothing particular 
happening immediately. I have trapped a num- 
ber of skunks, but as I did not try many ex- 
periments with them I cannot contradict the 
theory that skunks cannot make trouble when 
held up by their tails. But even now I should 
not pick one up by the tail for a farm. The 
reason I would not is because two eminent 
naturalists have ridiculed “the old farmer 
notion” that skunks, held by the tail, are harm- 
less. These naturalists are W. H. Hudson, C. 
M. Z. S., and our own Dr. C. Hart Merriam. 
To my taste Hudson is among the three or four 
really entertaining and _ scientific writers on 
natural history topics. His “Naturalist on La 
Plata,” and his “Idle Days in Patagonia” are 
as interesting as novels, presenting wonderfully 
beautiful pictures of the southern end of South 
America. Dr. Merriam, whose present work js 
well known, wrote “Mammals of the Adirondack 
Region” about 1879. In a few pages he des- 
cribes every Adirondack mammal so vividly that 
any man must love them all after reading his 
accounts of their habits, appearance and char- 
acteristics. With Dr. Elliot Coues’ “Fur Bear- 
ing Animals” and “Mammals of the Adirondack 
Region” one can say he has a library of natural 
history—real natural history, without any inter- 
spersion of fiction, notions, guesses and quasi- 
science. I have always been sorry that Dr. Mer- 
riam has not extended his “Mammals of the 
Adirondack Region” by adding studies of all 
other American animals. If he would treat of 
them all as he did of the otter, muskrat, pekan 
and panther in the “Mammals,” other observers 
would be able only to add a bit here and there. 
I do not believe the sawbones work he is now 
doing on dried hides and scraped bones—I judge 
by the Government reports—is anywhere near as 
valuable as his observations on what animals 
do would be. 
To return to skunks, I note that John Bur- 
roughs picked one up by the tail, and nothing 
happened. My brother Eldridge A. Spears has 
copied and sent me what both Dr. Merriam and 
W. H. Hudson have to say on what risks one 
runs in picking skunks up by the tail. 
In the “Mammals of the Adirondack Region,” 
under the heading “Some Common _ Fallacies 
Concerning Skunks,” after telling, first, that the 
scent is not urine; second, that the skunk does 
not scatter the fluid with his tail; third, that 
the skunk does not squirt as soon as any one 
is within reach, discharging his battery only when 
hurt, hard pressed, or excited. Merriam says: 
“One may, with considerable confidence, ap- 
proach one when in a trap, take hold of the 
chain, and drag the trap and contents to any 
convenient place, provided he goes slowly and 
makes no sudden move.” The young—“the un- 
sophisticated juveniles, when harassed, get ex- 
cited far more easily than their parents and 
sometimes ‘squirt’ upon insufficient provocation.” 
Fourth, that the first discharge does not empty 
the sac and make the beast as “harmless as a 
cat.” Fifth, when held by the tail, what? (p. 84). 
“I have been told, and have likewise seen the 
statement in print, that a skunk, when held up 
by the tail, cannot eject his scent. Having in 
early childhood been the unhappy victim to a 
sufficiently satisfactory demonstration to the con- 
trary, I will relate the result of a somewhat 
humiliating experience, for the benefit of those 
who are in doubt on this point. It was in the 
fall of the year, and a light snow enabled me to 
track a skunk to his hole in the woods where 
I set a box trap, baited with meat. Next morn- 
ing I found the trap sprung, but, hearing no 
noise within, opened the lid. Before I had time 
to see what was there my little dog rushed in, 
and as I reached out my arm to pull him back 
I somehow got hold of the skunk’s tail by mis- 
take. My chin dropped with astonishment as 
I held the affrighted beast up before me, and 
the dog seized him by the head, Scarce had 
I realized the peril of the situation when I was 
blinded and stifled by the terrible discharge 
which hit me full in the face, entering my gap- 
ing mouth and one of my eyes. Nearly suffo- 
cated by the overpowering stench, and scream- 
ing with pain, I rushed into the house, where, 
in the efforts to wash the fluid from my eye, my 
head was crowded into a pail of water, and I 
was well night drowned. I had read that a 
single drop of the secretion was sufficient to 
produce total blindness, and consequently ex- 
pected nothing less than to lose the sight in this 
eye. The resulting inflammation, however, sub- 
sided in about a week, leaving no ill effect.” 
On page 118 and 119 “The Naturalist in La 
Plata,’ W. H. Hudson, C. M. Z. S., says: “In 
that not always trustworthy book, ‘The Natural 
History of Chili,’ Molina tells us how they deal 
. with the animal in the trans-Andine regions. 
“When one appears,’ he says, ‘some of the com- 
pany begin by caressing it, until an opportunity 
offers for one of them to seize it by the tail. 
In this position the muscles become contracted, 
the animal is unable to eject its fluid, and is 
quickly dispatched.’ One might just as well tall 
of caressing a cobra de capello, yet this laugh- 
able fiction finds believers all over South and 
North America. Professor Baird gravely in- 
troduces it into his great work on the mammalia. 
I was once talking about animals in a rancho, 
when a person present (an Argentine officer) 
told that, while visiting an Indian encampment, 
he had asked the savages how they contrived to 
kill skunks without making even a life in the 
desert intolerable. A grave old Cacique in- 
formed him that the secret was to go boldly up 
to the animal, take it by the tail, and dispatch 
it; “for, he said, ‘when you fear it not at all 
then it respects your courage and dies like a 
lamb—sweetly.. The officer, continuing the 
story, said that on quitting the Indian camp he 
started a skunk, and, glad of an opportunity to 
test the truth of what he had heard, dismounted 
and proceeded to put the Indian plan in prac- 
tice. Here the story abruptly ended, and when 
I eagerly demanded to hear the sequel, the ama- 
teur hunter of furs lit a cigarette and vacantly 
watched the ascending smoke. The Indians are 
grave jokers, they seldom smile, and this old 
traditional skunk joke, which has run the length 
of a continent, finding its way into many wise 
books, is their revenge on a superior race.” 
Evidently the joke missed fire, and Mr. Bur- 
roughs escaped. Raymonp S, SPEARS. 
Wymore, Neb., Nov. 29.—Editor Forest and 
Stream: I have read with great interest the 
statements of some of your correspondents that 
skunks could be safely carried by the tail, or 
that they could do you no harm while suspended 
by the tail. 
I now want to inquire of these correspondents 
how they train their skunks to stand hitched 
while they are getting them by the tail? I was 
told nearly fifty years ago that this could be 
done, and have frequently tried it, but always 
get soaked before I get the tail hold. I am satis- 
fied that it can be done with a properly trained 
skunk, and would like to be advised as to the 
method used, as it is a pleasure that I do not 
want to give up. A. D, McCanp ess. 

Sales of Audubon’s “Birds of America.” 
At the sale of books at Anderson’s auction 
room in this city, Dec. 3, the copy of Audubon’s 
‘Birds of America” brought $2,400. This price is 
considerably less than other copies have brought 
recently, the difference no doubt being due to the 
recent financial difficulties, since auction prices 
this fall and winter are reported as being about 
30 per cent. below normal for this class of books. 
About the middle of November there was sold 
at Philadelphia at the auction rooms of Davis & 
Harvey a very beautiful copy of this work, which 
brought $3,200. It had belonged to the R. H. 
Sayre Library, of Bethlehem, Pa. It was uncut 
and unbound, a presentation copy to a friend in 
Baltimore in the original parts, and some of the 
plates had been touched by Audubon himself. 
The copy reported as having brought $4,000 
was sold in Philadelphia in April, 1906. It was 
a very fine copy in portable mahogany case, and 
with the folio “Quadrupeds of Bachman and 
Audubon,” brought at auction $4,300. The value 
of the Quadrupeds was about $250, leaving over 
$4,000 for the bird folio. It belonged to the estate 
of W. H. Kemble, of Philadelphia, and its pur- 
chaser was a resident of Baltimore. 
Maine Ornithological Society. 
FarMincton, Me., Dec. 1—Editor Forest and| 
Stream: The twelfth annual meeting of the 
Maine Ornithological Society was held in Port- 
land, Me., Nov. 29-30. 
There were present about twenty-five active 
members and two corresponding members—Hon. 
Thos. J. Emery, of the Harvard Law School, and 
Sherman E, Phillips, of Canterbury, N. H. 
The old board of officers was again re-elected 
for a third term as follows: President, Prof. 
Leslie A. Lee, Brunswick; Vice-President, Dr. 
H. H. Brock, Portland; Secretary-Treasurer, 
John Merton Swain, Farmington; Editor, W. H. 
Brownson, Portland; Associate Editor, Frank T. 
Noble, Augusta; Counselors, Capt. H. L. Spinney, 
Bath; Ora W. Knight, M.S.C., Bangor. 
The next annual meeting will probably be held 
in Brunswick, the Friday and Saturday follow- 
ing Thanksgiving, 1908. Many scientific papers 
and talks were listened to with a great deal of 
interest. Among them were the following: 
“The Terns of Bluff Island,’ by W. H. Brown- 
son; “The Eagles of the Kennebec Valley,’’ by 
Capt. H. L, Spinney, for fourteen years the keeper 
of Seguin Island light; “The Economic Value}! 
of Birds,” by Prof. E. F. Hitchings, entomolo- | 
gist of the Maine Department of Agriculture;| 
“Destruction of Birds During a Severe Storm in| 
April, 1907,” by Miss Marshall, of the Maine} 
Audubon Society; “Birds Observed along the| 
Highway,” by J. Merton Swain; “Bird Migra- 
tion,” by Prof. O. W. Knight; “The Feathers of} 
Birds” (illustrated), by Arthur H. Norton. 
Many other shorter notes were given by the 
members. ; 
A public meeting was held Friday evening in 
the lecture room of the Portland Society of Nat- 
ural History. A very enthusiastic audience lis- 
tened to the three illustrated lectures: “The Birds 
about Portland,’ by W. H. Brownson; “The 
Birds about a Lighthouse,” by Capt. H. L. Spin- 
ney; “The Birds along the Eastern Coast,” by 
Prof. Ora W. Knight. 
A committee was chosen to send resolutions to 
the Members of Congress relative to the appro- 
priations and continuance of the United States 
Biological Survey. 
Ten new candidates were elected to member- 
ship in the society. The society is in a prosperous 
condition, and the members are very enthusiastic 
over its future. 

J. Merton Swatn, Sec.-Treas. 
A Woodcock in wi City Parke 
Brookiyn, N. Y., Nov. 30—Editor Forest and 
Stream: For some time I have been tempted to 
tell you of an incident that happened on the 13th 
day of last May. About 11:30 in the forenoon I 
was crossing City Hall Park, New York, and 
noticed quite a crowd of people standing on the 
walk looking at something on the grass not over 
a hundred and twenty-five feet from the rush of 
Broadway, near Warren street. When I stopped 
to investigate, you can easily imagine my astonish- 
ment to find that the attention of the crowd was | 
centered on a splendid old woodcock serenely 
plugging the turf, while around him in a perfect 
circle and showing no small amount of excitement 
were a lot of English sparrows. ‘The bird was 
not wounded, for I had a bootblack go inside the 
railing and start him up, when he flew into the 
little copse and then out again. | 
I have been expecting ever since to see an ac- 
count of this in your paper. 
As during that time we had moonlight nights, 
I can only suppose that he dropped down and was 
so confused by the tall structures around him 
that he simply did not know how to get out. 
Well, I don’t wonder much, for folk that love 
the woods, dear old Broadway is more liable to 
confuse than enchant. Wi te! 












THE Forest AND STREAM may be obtained from 
any newsdealer on order. Ask your dealer to 
supply you regularly, 












