THE COMMON SKUNK.[183]
This notorious American species is a stoutly-built animal, with short legs, a long conical head with a truncated snout, and a long bushy tail. The general colour of the fur is black, or nearly so, but on the forehead there is a white streak, and on the neck a white patch, from which two broad bands of the same hue proceed backwards along the upper surface of the body. The length from tip of snout to root of tail is something over a foot; the tail itself is less than a foot in length. The general appearance of the animal is decidedly Badger-like; it has, in fact, a good deal of resemblance both to the Ratel and to the Teledu. As in the Weasel, Ermine, and Polecat, there is one molar on each side of the upper, two on each side the lower jaw; altogether there are thirty-four teeth. It occurs throughout the whole of the temperate portion of North America.
We have mentioned that several of the Weasel family enjoy the distinction of being able to eject a foul-smelling fluid from glands at the root of the tail. In this accomplishment the Skunk is the undoubted chief. It can eject its perfume to a considerable distance, and with unerring aim: and the smell! The “odour of mingled guano and Polecat,” which, according to Mr. Kingsley, distinguishes the ancient Cornish dainty squab-pie, is simply nothing in comparison with the horrible stench emitted by this little animal. It is so durable, that the spot where a Skunk has been killed will often retain the scent for days, or even weeks; indeed, Audubon relates that at one place where a Skunk had been killed in the autumn, the odour was quite perceptible in the following spring after the snow had melted. Clothes defiled with the secretion cannot be thoroughly cleansed by any ordinary means: for even if the scent seems to have disappeared, it will make itself evident every time the wearer goes near a fire,or into the sun. Notwithstanding this, furriers have found out a way for effectually purifying Skunk-skins, which are now a good deal used as furs. In Britain, where the Skunk is not known in the flesh, these furs are called by their right names, but in America, where the inhabitants do not enjoy the same blissful ignorance of this noxious beast, they are dignified with the appellation of “Alaska sable.”
SKUNK.
SKUNK.
But the scent of the secretion is not its worst feature. Sir John Richardson quotes Mr. Graham as saying “that he knew several Indians who lost their eyesight in consequence of inflammation, produced by this fluid having been thrown into them by the animal,” and continues, “I have known a dead Skunk, thrown over the stockades of a trading-port, produce instant nausea in several women, in a house with closed doors, upwards of a hundred yards distant.” Dogs often suffer from inflammation of the eyes after being squirted with the fluid, and appear to be almost distracted with the pain. Curiously enough, the secretion has been recommended as a cure for asthma. “The story is told of an asthmatic clergyman who procured the glands of a Skunk, which he kept tightly corked in a smelling-bottle, to be applied to his nose when his symptoms appeared. He believed he had discovered a specific for his distressing malady, and rejoiced thereat; but on one occasion he uncorked his bottle in the pulpit, and drove his congregation out of church.”[184]
The efficacy of the secretion as a defensive weapon for the not otherwise formidable animal is greatly enhanced by the distance to which it can be ejected. This is probably as much as twelve or fourteen feet, while the smell itself can be perceived for a comparatively immense distance.
Besides its perfume, the Skunk has yet another claim to careful avoidance: its bite has been known in many cases to produce hydrophobia, in a form quite indistinguishable, according to an American surgeon, Dr. Janeway, from that induced by the bite of a rabid Dog.
An allied species, the Little Striped Skunk,[185]is less than a foot long, and the tail is shorter than the body. The fur is black, and marked with numerous white stripes and spots. It is found in the southern part of the United States, and is said to be readily capable of domestication, proving very serviceable as a Mouser. Of course, under these circumstances, the glands are removed while the animal is young.
The White-backed Skunk[186]is the South American form of the genus. It occurs throughout that Continent as well as in Mexico and the south-western portions of the United States. It is much larger than the northern species, attaining a length of from eighteen inches to two feet, and is further distinguished by its short white tail, which does not exceed nine or ten inches in length, its pig-like snout projecting a full inch beyond the mouth, and its white back sometimes marked by a median black stripe. The rest of the fur is, as usual, black.
Our friend, Mr. Purdie, whose acquaintance with the Skunk in South America has been of the most practical kind, assures us that when about to discharge its secretion, the animal invariably faces round, so as to look its enemy full in the face, throws its tail over its back, and allows the breeze to carry the fluid in the desired direction. This method of discharge seems highly unaccountable, and difficult to reconcile with the anatomical facts; but it would be certainly going too far to say that it is impossible. Dr. Coues, who has repeatedly observed the North American Skunk, states that the animal invariably turns its back to its intended victim.