Skunk

“ To adorn a skunk with any extra qualifications seems as great a waste of the raw material as painting the lily or gilding refined gold. He is already amply equipped for outdoor pursuits. Nobody intentionally shoves him round; everybody gives him as much room as he seems to need. He commands respect—nay, more than that, respect and veneration—wherever he goes. Joy riders never run him down and foot passengers avoid crowding him into a corner. You would think Nature had done amply well by the skunk; but no—the Hydrophobic Skunk comes along and upsets all these calculations. ”

“ The skunk seems to know perfectly well how offensive its odor is, and never runs away if it meets a man, or even a large dog. It just stands perfectly quiet, like a cat expecting to be stroked, ready to make use of its evil-smelling fluid if necessary.
This singular animal lives in holes in the ground, making a warm little nest at the end in which to bring up its young. It feeds upon small animals, small birds and their eggs, frogs, lizards, and, most of all, upon insects. ”

“ The skunk is naturally gentle and not much afraid of people. When the scent sacs have been removed from a young skunk it will be found at once quite tame and may be carried about in your arms like a kitten. If it is handled frequently it will grow up very tame, will come when called and will eat from the hand.
"Are The Scent Sacs The Same in Both Sexes?" Yes, they are the same in both sexes. They open into the rectum and are not related in any way to the reproductive or urinary systems. The scent fluid is not the urine as many people imagine. ”

“ The skunk takes great care not to get any of the scent on its tail or fur and the slightly skunky odor which fur garments sometimes have is usually the result of carelessness in killing or skinning the animal. To kill without scent the backbone should be broken by a quick blow or the skunk should be drowned. ”

“ When closely cornered, the skunk will turn its tail toward the enemy and with a quiver and a flip of his tail it can guide the openings of two little tubes that come out along the root of the tail in such fashion as to eject the fluid in a fine and foul-smelling stream against the animal from which the skunk would escape. Once fairly hit by this fluid, I imagine most animals will drop the skunk. A dog surely will, and will hate himself for having made [Pg 118] the attempt to capture anything which must be so ignominiously allowed to escape. ”

“ The skunk preys upon mice, salamanders, frogs and the eggs of birds that nest on or within reach from the ground. At times he eats carrion, and if he chances to stumble upon a hen’s nest the eggs are liable to suffer; and once in a while he acquires the evil habit of robbing the hen-roost, but as a rule skunks are not addicted to this vice. Of all our native mammals perhaps no one is so universally abused and has so many unpleasant things said about it as the innocent subject of the present biography; and yet no other species is half so valuable to the farmer. ”

“ The skunk is a little understood animal. By this we mean, that ordinary people, other than naturalists or scientists, little understand the habits and value of skunk. By some the skunk is classed as a reptile or varmint, and on account of its odor, is detested. Other animals throw scent, notably the mink and muskrat, of course not to the extent that the skunk does. ”

“ I have myself often had the pleasant experience of feeling and knowing that a skunk was crawling over my carefully-covered-up body. But enough of this very objectionable creature.
In Texas some of the boys used to carry in their pockets a piece of "rattlesnake root," which when scraped and swallowed after a bite was held to be an antidote, though otherwise a virulent poison.
In this placid land of ours, so free of pests, mosquitoes, fleas and leeches, we are also free of the true skunk; but we do have, as perhaps you are aware, a small creature armed and protected in much the same way. ”

“ The striped skunk is an even-tempered animal. Its defensive fluid is discharged only when it is cornered or attacked. A trapped skunk rarely releases musk. A man, by speaking softly and moving slowly, can come within a distance of six feet of a trapped skunk. Experienced trappers utilize this fact to approach and shoot trapped skunks through the head or neck and so produce odorless furs.
The skunk is potentially a source of considerable income to trappers in Washington. ”

“ He is independent, allows no one to pat him on the back, and no pup to chase him. He is no respecter of persons nor of robes.
For years, I think, the skunk families near my cabin considered me a good neighbour. One mated pair lived near me for three years. These gave me good glimpses of skunk life. Their clothes were ever clean and bright; often in front of the den I stood near while they polished their shining black and white fur. A few times I saw the old ones carry grasshoppers and mice into the den for the waiting little ones. ”

“ Some prefer to make an artificial opening in top of box after same is buried, into which the skunk will descend, rather fall in, but cannot get out. Some strong smelling bait should be placed in the box, which is to attract the animal from a distance. As many as eight skunks have been caught during one night by the use of this style of box trap. This seems to prove that skunk do not make a noise when caught. ”

“ The skunk is found in nearly all the states and territories of the Union and climate and geographical conditions are responsible for the great variation in size and color of its pelage. There are very few fur-bearing animals as plentiful, and especially in the civilized sections, that bring such a handsome income to the farmer as does the skunk. ”

“ That raising of the white tail-tip is the skunk's ultimate warning. After that, remains nothing but war and carnage and chaos.
If even then the artist had but stood stony still, there might have been room for repentance, for the skunk is long-suffering and loath to go into action. No country-bred guardian angel came to De Haven's rescue. Stepping quickly forward, he stooped to seize the motionless animal. Even as he leaned forward, his fate overtook him. Swinging his plumed tail to one side, the skunk bent its back at the shoulders, and brought its secondary batteries into action. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Without exception they all report that the animals breed well in captivity and are easily kept; in a short time becoming quite tame and losing their fear of man.
The skunk is an animal which is despised and feared by many people because of its readiness to make use of its powerful scent, the only means of defense with which nature has provided it, but it is only when frightened that it uses this scent and once they have become tame and learn that they will not be harmed they are practically harmless. ”

“ Have you ever been on a skunk hunt? But perhaps you have no prejudices. I had. My code of action for a skunk was, if you see a black and white animal, don't stop to admire its beautiful bushy tail, but give a good imitation of a young woman running for her life. This did not suit Nimrod. He assured me that there was no danger if we treated his skunkship respectfully, and, as I was the photographer, I put on my old clothes and meekly fell in line. Nimrod set several box traps in places where skunks had been. ”

“ The fur of the black skunk, especially the eastern variety, is soft, wavy, and of a deep lustrous black. Those animals that have only a small white furred star at the forehead are commercially called "black skunk."
Great care should be taken in selecting the male breeders to avoid in-breeding. A skunk matures, or its fur becomes prime and salable in six months. The female brings forth young in a year. The life of a skunk is from five to seven years. ”

“ The garden was also, unfortunately, the favourite recreation-ground of a family of lively skunks, and the skunk is an animal whose terrific offensive powers necessitate extreme caution in approaching him. Should a young dog unwarily attempt to tackle a skunk, he had to be rigorously quarantined for a fortnight, for otherwise the inexpressibly sickening odour was unendurable. ”

“ The value of a skunk skin depends mainly on its size and markings, they being graded by the buyers entirely by the amount of black fur, providing, of course, that the skin is prime and well handled.
Being slow moving animals, they can not catch the more active animals and birds as do the other members of the weasel family and their food consists mainly of mice, insects and grubs, also of the eggs and young of such birds as nest on the ground. They are very fond of poultry and frequently visit the poultry houses, killing the young birds. They also feed on carrion. ”

“ The wood-born people are all light-footed and cautious in their stirring. Only the box turtles scuff carelessly along; and that is because they can shut themselves up—head, paws, tail—inside their lidded shells, and defy their enemies.
The skunk, however, is sometimes careless in his going; for he knows that he will neither be crowded nor jostled along the street, so he naturally behaves as if all the woods were his. Yet, how often do you come upon a skunk? Seldom—because, he is quite as unwilling to meet you as you are to meet him ”

“ The skunk itself offers perhaps the one instance amongst the higher vertebrates of an animal in which all the original instincts of self-preservation have died out, giving place to this lower kind of protection. All the other members of the family it belongs to are cunning, swift of foot, and, when overtaken, fierce-tempered and well able to defend themselves with their powerful well-armed jaws. ”

“ The skunks are perfectly cleanly about the dens and always deposit their droppings in one corner, or outside. They seldom discharge their scent and unless he were to see it, one might pass close by a skunk "ranch" and never know it. ”

“ The fur is long, and comparatively coarse, being intermixed with long, glossy hairs, and is most valuable in the black animal. The body of the creature is about a foot and a half in length, exclusive of the tail, which adds about fourteen inches more.
The skunk is generally nocturnal in its habits, secreting itself during the day in hollow trees, or crevices in rocks, or wood-piles. At night it ventures forth in quest of its food, which consists chiefly of grasshoppers, worms and other insects, wild fruit and such small animals in the shape of frogs, mice and birds as it can capture. ”

“ In the northern states the skunk becomes prime about the last week in October, while in the extreme south they are probably not prime until the last week in November. In the north they commence to shed their fur about the tenth or fifteenth of March, while in the south they shed still earlier. During very cold weather, when the skunks have been confined to their dens for a considerable length of time, the warmth of the dens has a tendency to injure the fur. ”

“ One rarely detects any odor about a skunk's burrow. I had been within twenty feet of this one on the island most of the afternoon and had not known it. How are a number of skunks living in a single burrow for weeks able to keep it sweet, when one of them, by simply passing through a ten-acre field of blossoming clover, will make it unendurable? ”

“ This was a species of skunk, that emitted an odour so overpowering, that the animal’s instinct did not even induce it to attempt to run from the dogs, who flew at first to worry it, but surrendered at once to the poisonous smell, and refused to approach. We left the skunk in full possession of the field, and returned to find Quilp and a newly arrived party of Spaniards, enjoying themselves in-doors, drinking the “wine of the south” and cracking jokes, probably at our expense. ”

“ He is not so cunning nor so swift as the fox, but the skunk is no stupid. He is cool and calm and bold. He will advance upon and capture a hen-house, and be off to his den, while a fox is still studying his map of the farm.
Yet, like every other predatory creature, the skunk more than balances his debt for corn and chickens by his credit for the destruction of obnoxious vermin. He feeds upon insects and mice, destroying great numbers of the latter by digging out the nests and eating the young. ”

“ The skunk is a foolish, unresourceful animal and were it not for its natural, unique means of defense, would be utterly at the mercy of dogs and hunters. Many dogs object to the scent and will trail and bring to bay a skunk only with reluctance. Only those who hunt for profit, care to take the skunk, and he must needs learn the finer points by experience.
The Scotch Terrier and Beagle should be mink dog. The steel trap is more generally relied upon to bag the sly mink and his capture with dog and gun is oft-times very unproductive. ”

“ A skunk is easily trapped. He is a dull-witted fellow, and has little strategy or suspicion. So well protected is he against attack, and so readily can he seize upon the food just secured by another, that rarely does he become excited or move quickly. ”

“ Skunks are not bad people; they simply refuse to be kicked around or to have salt placed upon their plumy tails. Sooner or later every animal in a skunk’s territory turns his back on the skunk and refuses to have anything to do with him. But the skunk turns first.
The skunk to go into action reverses ends and puts up his tail. Every animal in the woods wonders as he meets a skunk ”