Joseph Wharton Lippincott

“ However the mouse, thinking only of saving herself had left in the nest her whole family of five young ones. Their eyes were still tight shut and their bodies hairless. If left undisturbed, however, they would soon have grown up and been running about like the mother making tunnels in the grass far and wide, to the disgust of Farmer Slown. So the wood pussy did the Farmer a good turn, though to her it was only a matter of easing her empty, aching stomach with a meal and providing food for her young ones. ”

“ Striped Coat cowered back against what seemed a solid wall of stems, and the owl noting his fear, started into the bushes after him; but suddenly things changed; with a stamp of his foot the little fellow sidled forward, every hair on end, his tail straight over his back. The owl hesitated; he was facing more of a proposition than he had bargained for. The little skunk looked young and defenseless, but it acted very grown up. The owl knew what an old wood pussy could do. ”

“ Birds were singing, bees were buzzing around numberless flowers, far and wide there was the hum of the insect army now come again to feed on the plant life. How this army would spread and grow and ravage the land, if birds by day were not constantly after it on the ground, in the trees and in the air, and if at night its ranks were not attacked by the active little shrews, the swift flying bat, and the wood pussies, not to mention other woodsfolk like the fox, the mole, old Possum and even Screech Owl, who all helped! In the water the fish did their part. Yes, everything must eat to live. ”

“ All of the skunk family still seem to be considered unpleasant and almost unmentionable creatures merely because of their ability to throw in self-defence a liquid, in the form of a spray, possessing anything but the fragrance of roses. Admitting that the odor is indescribably awful and that to get it on one’s clothing is anything but a reason for joy, it may still be claimed that the skunk himself is by no means a “smelly” animal and that his recourse to this means of defending his life is quite permissible as proved by our own methods of warfare. ”

“ When the cold winds blow and the ground is frozen it is badly needed. Red Squirrel hid nuts in forks of limbs and in hollows and crevices, Grey Squirrel buried a supply in good safe places, Ground Hackie made a granary for himself underground, the foxes buried things like dead mice, pieces of rabbit, frogs, snakes, fish and even apples, but creatures like Bear, Woodchuck, Possum, Coon and Striped Coat just stored, in layers of rich fat around their body, enough nourishment to carry them through the hard months, until warm, pleasant days came. ”

“ One of the men sat on the stump and amused himself by poking sticks into the hollow underneath it, finding to his surprise that something inside resented this and replied with distinctly audible stamps of its feet. Proudly announcing this discovery, he poked more thoroughly while the others stood about and excitedly encouraged him.
Suddenly there was a scuffle and out sprang Striped Coat, at the same time giving the young man the full benefit of the musk bath. Amid the confusion of shrieks from the women and yells from the men he slipped into the bushes and ran as he had never run before. ”

“ He had moved into the woods and started his present farm because he wished to be far away from every human being, in a place where he could do pretty much what he pleased with everything he saw. But even Farmer Slown could not regulate the actions of the wild furry folk, nor know how many pairs of bright little eyes watched the lights of his house at night from field and thicket and high tree top. ”

“ That night Striped Coat took a long trip. He wandered far below the Farmer’s field and then to the sandy hill in the pines and lastly along the bank of Goose Creek. He met Mink and Coon and old Possum, Gray Fox, Brown Weasel, Bun and the deer from Cranberry Swamp. All looked at him and then gave him the path. Yes, there were many animals, but after all this was his range and he was master of them all.
Standing once more in front of the stone pile he shook himself until his fur stood out all over him, that fur for which any dealer would give a big price. ”

“ She liked the little fellow and rarely disappointed him. And it was he who a year later became known as “Striped Coat” from one end of Goose Creek to the other—yes, and even further, for fame travels fast in the woods.
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At five weeks of age he was like a little black ball of fur with a handle to it, which was his tail. His teeth were strong by that time and he often helped the others strip the feathers off some tough old blackbird or crow which the Farmer had shot in the field and left there, and which the mother had dragged under the brushpile for a feast. ”

“ It is the same thing in the case of the skunk. Let a fierce dog rush at him, and when a show of his little teeth and a brave stand have failed to save the poor fellow, deny him if you can the right to use as a last resort this stinging, pungent musk which, properly aimed at the eyes of his big enemy will have just enough effect to allow him a safe and bloodless retreat. ”

“ Even as they entered, a huge male rat ran past them and sulkily entered a burrow. Striped Coat turned towards him, but not as quickly as his mate who dashed after the flying tail. She was still ravenously hungry and here was meat.
The rat however was now in his narrow den, feeling quite safe enough to turn and chatter furiously at his pursuers who accepted his challenge by beginning to dig. The burrow ran close to the surface of the ground, so they made the dirt fairly fly and took short cuts by skipping over some sections. ”

“ Every rain brought out many kinds of edible toadstools in the woods, blackberries hung heavily from their stems, grasshoppers and crickets had grown big and fat, white grubs swarmed under the grass roots around the Farmer’s field. ”

“ When, thanks to the help of Goose Creek, the Farmer had put out the last flame, he was nearly exhausted and in much worse condition than most of the little woods folk he had tried to destroy. To be sure many of them were homeless, but they could find or make new homes. Indeed, when that night the mother wood pussy slipped from under the barn and wandered across the field to the stretch of burned woods beyond, she found the mice already in new holes along the edge of the field and Possum carrying, in a bundle held by his tail, a lot of straw for a new bed he was making in a hollow oak. ”

“ Including this little creature in my wild animal series is somewhat contrary to the advice of my publishers who naturally believe in “best sellers” rather than in “best smellers,” but I have a fond hope that Striped Coat will win his way with readers to a place beside Bun, Red Ben, Gray Squirrel and those to follow. I might add that a young skunk readily becomes a very tame, unusually interesting and beautiful pet, a safe one however only if accidents are provided against by “disarming,” that is, by the removal of the two scent sacs. ”

“ The large black and white striped skunks we or our pet dogs often encounter, sometimes to our disaster, belong only in North America. Our friend Striped Coat was one of these. In the southern and western states lives also a little cousin of his—the spotted skunk—whose fur though attractive is not so valuable; but neither he nor the broad-striped skunk of Central and South America enter the pages of this story, for Striped Coat lived his life farther north than the range of either. ”

“ No matter how dead the bird, he would always pounce upon it as if it might escape, then pull and worry at its feathers and finally seize it by the head and try to drag it to a corner, away from the others. ”

“ The little gnawing tribe of grass and nut eaters, the mice, the squirrels, the rabbits and their kind nearly always looked like a good meal to meat eaters such as the fox, skunk, mink, owl, ’possum, ’coon and cat. Therefore the little nut and grass eaters always had to be careful to keep entirely out of the way of the killers ”

“ On all sides are small holes in the earth and otherwise unobtrusive signs of their diligence in my behalf. They are my friends and I am theirs. To me no other pretty creature of the woods is more interesting.
7
In the past the skunk has been badly treated by authors. It was so easy to take a humorous but barbed fling at the poor wood pussy! But that day is past, for facts will out and our debt of gratitude is too great longer to be ignored. If my own words in tracing a part of the life history of Striped Coat, prove at all illuminating, I shall be happy. ”

“ Henry had taken such a liking to Striped Coat that he wanted to make sure the wild wood pussy would like the cabin well enough to make it a permanent home. With this in mind he built an underground drain leading under it to a pile of stones nearby. Safety was even more important than comfort in the matter of a den, and through this back door Striped Coat could feel able to go or come when he chose. The stone pile hid the entrance and allowed no animal larger than he, to enter through its cracks. ”

“ Henry prepared to leave the cabin until Spring, so he anxiously watched Striped Coat in the hope that before leaving time came, the wood pussy would hibernate, that is to say, go to sleep for the winter in the safe, warm nest. His fat would feed him while he slept, for without exercise he would not need much nourishment. ”

“ In the ocean the otherwise defenceless little squid, when attacked, throws out a dark liquid which spreads in the water and either blinds its pursuer momentarily or so confuses his vision that the active squid has time to escape. ”

“ The wild creatures are growing tame again. They are around or in my cabin most of the day and night; it’s on account of them that I came to see you; I wondered whether you and I, working together, couldn’t stop the trapping that’s going on around here. Woods animals that do a lot of good are being killed off; there are the skunks for example, only a few old ones are left. Can’t we save them? What do you say?” Mr. Henry spoke seriously and the Farmer listened equally so. ”

“ Nearly all of the food of the last year had already been gathered by the woods creatures and the new year’s food had not begun to grow, but here and there he picked up something to stave off hunger—a half awakened insect or two, a dead shrew, scattered acorns and some grass bulbs. ”

“ Tearing himself free he kicked about him to destroy the offending bushes, and failing in this, strode away. Thus the meddlesome Farmer was saved from a much worse dose of musk than he received the first time. But more trouble was brewing; the man had made up his mind that the brush heaps were bad things to have near his fields, he had decided to burn them. That day, however, he did not have time, and on the next it rained, so the wood pussies lived on; and every day the little ones grew bigger and stronger. ”

“ No cutworms, no grubs, none of those big brown beetles, even no mice to speak of.
Skunk tracks.
“I didn’t know just what was doing the good work until I—that is, the trappers—caught off the skunks last autumn. I can tell you that after that the mice and rats nearly ate me up. Well, I still hadn’t studied it out when the other night I saw the queerest thing ever! Two skunks killing a sewer rat almost on my doorstep, and it an old fellow half as big as one of them. Such squealing you never heard, I guess! That big black skunk of yours was the one that did the trick ”

“ But the wood pussy had come there because she already knew that this burrow was just the right size for her, a smaller woodchuck’s home would not have been comfortable. Moreover an old woodchuck’s den was usually well hidden and made with plenty of protection against rain and dampness as well as with a second entrance for escape in case of danger. It would not be an easy matter to drive out the old fighter who was quite as large as herself, but her need was urgent and this burrow suited her exactly. ”

“ It was a fine arrangement and Striped Coat liked it. He built a big nest of dry grass, leaves and cotton waste under the cabin and slept there instead of in his corner back of the wood box, but at night he often came out of the hole in the floor and walked around the room while Mr. Henry was eating supper, showing friendliness but in a dignified, distant way. After eating a few scraps he would go back to the hole, then out through the drain to the stone pile around which he would walk for a time scenting the air and making very sure all was well before leaving for the woods. ”

“ She had found the last two socks somewhat harder to tear down than the others, but had managed to get them by pulling the ends through the fence one at a time and then straining back with all her strength until the wool stretched on the nail and gave way with such suddenness as to roll her over. This stretching and sudden jerk was what caused each sock to vanish through the fence so quickly that the Farmer could not see it go. The moving shadows did the rest. Into them the black wood pussy with her long white stripes fitted in as naturally as if a part of them. ”

“ Belonging as they do to the elusive weasel tribe and being largely nocturnal in their habits, to chronicle all the actual happenings in the natural, wild life of one of them would seem an impossible task. ”