SKUNK

The fellow in the handsome black and white coat and large plumed tail ambles along like a large gentle cat, but don't make the mistake of trying to pet him. Equipped with scent glands at the base of the tail, the skunk has no compunction about spraying anyone or anything that ventures too close. There is no more malodorous smell in the animal kingdom; even a gentle wind can carry the scent as far as a mile.

Nocturnal, the showy animal is seldom seen except in early morning or late evening hours. He is valuable to man as a destroyer of vermin and rodents. The Indians used his flesh for food; trappers today take many of the animals for their colorful pelts.

Open fields with wooded borders are the favorite habitat of the skunk which will sometimes dig a shallow den, but may raise a family under an outbuilding or in the deserted tunnel of some other animal. There are usually six to ten in a litter; after about four weeks the young are capable of following their parents in foraging expeditions.

The Algonquin Indians who inhabited Jamestown and the surrounding areas, called the white and black animal "seganku." Its scientific name, "mephitis," is a Latin word that means "noxious vapor."

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