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See also: North See also: American carnivorous mammal
.
Its existence was first notified to See also: European naturalists in 1636, in See also: Gabriel Sagard-Theodat's See also: History of See also: Canada, where, in commencing his account, he describes it as " enfans du diable, que See also: les See also: Hurons appelle Scangaresse,
.
. . une beste fort puante," &c
.
This shows in what reputation the See also: skunk was then held, a reputation which has become so notorious that the See also: mere name of skunk is one of opprobrium
.
The skunks, of whom there are several See also: species, arranged in three genera, are members of the See also: family Mustelidae (see See also: CARNIVORA)
.
The See also: common skunk (Mephitis mephitica) is a native of North See also: America, extending from Hudson See also: Bay to the See also: middle See also: United States
.
It is a beautiful animal, about the See also: size of a See also: cat, though of a stouter and heavier build, with See also: rich lustrous black fur, varied on the back by a patch or streak of See also: white
.
The muzzle is long and pointed, the eyes are
See also: sharp and See also: bead-like, and the See also: grey or white tail is long and unusually bushy
.
The premolars number -
.
The following account of the skunk is extracted from Dr C
.
H
.
Merriam's Mammals of the Adirondack Region, New See also: York, 1884:
" The skunk preys upon mice, salamanders, frogs and the eggs of birds that See also: nest on or within reach from the ground
.
At times he eats carrion, and if he chances to stumble upon a See also: 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 See also: rule skunks are not addicted to this See also: 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 See also: present biography; and yet no other species is See also: half so valuable to the See also: farmer
.
Pre-eminently an See also: insect-eater, he destroys more beetles, grasshoppers and the like than all our other mammals together, and in addition to these he devours vast numbers of mice
.
" He does not evince that dread of See also: man that is so manifest in the vast majority of our mammals, and when met during any of his circumambulations rarely thinks of See also: running away
.
He is slow in See also: movement and deliberate in See also: action and does not often See also: hurry him-self in whatever he does
.
His ordinary gait is a measured walk, but when pressed for See also: time he breaks into a low shuffling gallop
.
It is hard to intimidate a skunk, but when once really fnghtened he manages to get over the ground at a very See also: fair See also: pace
.
Skunks remain active throughout the greater See also: part of the See also: year in this region, and hibernate only during the severest portion of the winter
.
They differ from most of our hibernating mammals in that the inactive See also: period is apparently dependent solely on the temperature, while the mere amount of snow has no influence whatever upon their movements
.
" Skunks have large families, from six to ten See also: young being commonly raised each season; and as a rule they all live in the same hole until the following spring."
The overpowering odour which has brought the skunk into such notoriety arises from the secretion of the anal glands
.
These glands, although present in all Mustelidae, are especially See also: developed in skunks, but are so entirely under control that at ordinary times these animals are cleanly and See also: free from smell
.
Similar glands are possessed by nearly all Carnivora, but in the skunks are enormously enlarged, and provided with thick See also: muscular coats
.
The secretion—often propelled by the muscles surrounding to a distance of from 8 to 12 ft.—is a clear yellowish liquid, with a marvellously penetrating ammoniacal and nauseous smell . Dr Merriam writes, " I have known the See also: scent to become strikingly apparent in every part of a well-closed See also: house, in winter, within five minutes after a skunk had been killed at a distance of more than a See also: hundred yards," and under favourable conditionsit may be perceived at a distance of more than a mile
.
Instances are also on record of persons having become unconscious after inhaling the smell
.
The long-tailed skunk (M. macrura), a native of central and See also: southern Mexico, differs from the typical species by having two white stripes along its sides, and by its longer and bushier tail
.
The little striped skunk (Spilogale putorius), found in the southern United States, and ranging southwards to See also: Yucatan and See also: Guatemala, is smaller than M. mephitica, and marked with four interrupted See also: longitudinal white stripes on a black ground
.
There are likewise differences in the See also: skull; and this species is also distinguished from other skunks by its arboreal habits
.
The conepatl (Conepatus mapurito) represents a third genus, with several species, confined to tropical and See also: South America
.
In this See also: group there is one pair less of premolars (p
.
; the build is heavier than in Mephitis; the snout and See also: head are more See also: pig-like, and the nostrils open downwards and forwards instead of laterally on the sides of the muzzle
.
(O
.
T.; R
.
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