The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-10-28

1 ehsly uhuSTatOOu hnu eNpihlneu after al.
THE SKUNK a GRATEFUL A
10 Appreciates Acts or Ki,s.e.- IN Ti-e or
Need. Tr.pper Besk--- says.
SCRANTON. Oct. 27.-seversl times this au-
tumn Julian w. werts Of Monument Creek saw
q white skunk providing around his premises
after nightfall. A bird and animal collector Of
stoddardsvills heard about the odd albino
quadruped, and sent word to Mr.. werts that he
would give S. for the skunk II Mr.. werts would
kill It without marrinR It's skin with bullets or
shots. On q moonlight night this month Mr..
werts saw the white skunk shopping in n swale,
and he set a fiat stone deadfall for II not far
away. Then he watched the skunk from behind
\ stone fence at q safe distance. Within twenty
minutes he saw IL stick up It's nose. give q few
snina, and steer straight for the trap. The
skunk had scented the bait under the slanting
stone, aud IL lost no time In trying to secure IL.
The stone crushed the hungry animals head and
shoulders, but Mr.. werts decided to wait for the
skunk to set good and dead before taking II
away. While he was waiting he saw q large owl
drop from the sky as noiselessly as q feather.
and set It's claws into that part of the skunk not
covered by the stone. 1t tuRged and yanked and
famed the air, but 1t couldn't pull the skunk
out. When the owl had satisfied itself that the
skunk was immovRble, IL tore the hind parts TO
pieces and began to devour them.
While IL was ~fesstlng. q black skunk isaun-
tered up. eyed the owl for a moment, and then
faced about and gave battle to II. The owl
sailed into the pugnaciUus black fellow and
fastened its talons In his thick fur. The skunk
got away with the loss OF two clawfuls Of hair.
and again the owl alighted on his back. This
time the ravenous night bird set its claws into
hide instead OF fur. and the fighting skunk found
himself overpowered. He squealed piteously
and struggled hard. and the owl tapped its
wings vigorously for q few seconds, got Just the
hold In the hide that It wanted. and finally arose
forty OF fifty feet and sailed into q dense hem
lock wood with Its prey. Mr.. Werts found the
next morning that the owl had ruined the white
worth IS less than he would have been II the
big-eyed bird had stayed away.
interesting collection Of stated skunks. 4 f-
male and her four pretty Kittens. The way he
Bowman's Greek last summer he saw a skunk
nibbling at something under a log at the edge OF
s sssus stT' Ssn. and der the G Thought Hhe struck %fTs Mr. RiaSy Kan.
thews that he would like to possess the cunning
Youngsters. The mother skunk's back was
toward him, and he promptly decided to take
the chances and try TO capture her and the
whole litter, Getting a long stick. lac stole
much noise that the old skunk didn't hear him,
and before she knew that an enemy was near. MIR,
Matthews showed the stick under her and pressed
perlng out OF sight as he did so, Mr.. Matthews
q penknife into her jnsular vein. Then he laid
her on her side near the log. In a few minutes
her four Kittens hoped out Of the bushes one
ner in the only way they, had yet learned.
While the cunning little things were thus en-
month old. Mr.. Matthews killed them with
sRtSsos nnd placed laced the the s mother fhSq and her kittens sf in
. glass case in the same position as when lie
aNo animal that / Know OF is more grateful
than the skunk when you help II out OF trouble
Fails. A"f have caught hundreds OF sEanEs in
steel traps, and not one of them ever offered
to drive ne e. ANA yn ~heh ! npp5oseh is ons ON vine ihs
. foot in . steel trsp.,will Invariably welcome
your presence, md. instead of attemptinG TO
skunk jus, 70 see how il, would act, and il every
rubbing its nose against my bootleg. looking up
at me and whining. have often patted a
sna shss Il ,s sSSRsii L It ESSS s MGGts "a pet erS Sss;
thanks for being set free, i would start across
sss i 2. ON s1s snTs fsE .ss ss.p and Of 5f0 soa Sass ! T hsRs sin Ist y
crippled skunk GO away to sai,ssr' and NIt. llkeIy as
studied its actions all care to, | give IL q smart
that Kills t6s poor little fellow very quieEly:
an empty hour barrel under q window in the
cellar, continued the trspper. and when
lOWoTou = l8uup III tho aEI u u biluktu
up At m as pleasant as you please. The little
creature had tumbled in from the window. and
sos Sis u T Il could dnT O efiSS out out as and %sn wai
10 punish 1t some for being so nelghborly. LETT
+ IN sh % 9 tell ms al %oiE aid Il ON %h i,s ! . Ssr. .sd sss
behind the bottom ,PI The skunk ns Srspt out
cry OF Joy. Instead OF starting on, IL came and
licked my hand. rubbed against me. whined.
and did lis best 10 show that Il was duly crate
woods, and 1 spared It's life. because its fur was
good for nothing at that time Of the year.
traps, but sometimes they get nicely fooled. A
real hungry ono doesn't object 10 the skunk,
when it finds that il can't pull IL from the trap.
Once | saw q eat-faced owl tug at q trapped
*, sss9 1sM si Then ihs st sSs Ssl leg sst w sail s @i,S th IN . sTSp 6y
and brought il down with a revolver bullet. A
famished fox once tackled an owl that was try
nard got the owl. and, while | might have shot
him as he Hoped OF with his catch, ! didn't, be-
poor and lean that his fur was. shaggy and
worthless, One fall. while going the rounds Of
fighting like fury for the possession of a skunk
In a trap, IL was Just daybreak. and the owls
couldn't tell half the time whether there were
two or three birds In the battle, They bad
killed the skunk, and they were such sandy Eel
its back. stuck up its claws, and had no more 10
say. for the other owl had torn lts gizEard out.
and started 20 sail toward a wood lot. and |
winged II with a bullet. The owls were males,
and as beautiful a pair a. I ever saw,
Zone evening a skunk ran up our cellar door,
got on the window sill, and scratched on the
pane while we were at supper at early candle
light. IL Was evidently hungry, for when il saw
us eating it licked its chops and pressed Its
come in. After supper my wife raised the win
dow a couple OF inches and placed q hens egg on
The sill fhs skunk thereupOn lifted the egg 20
Its mouth with It's paws. dropped from the sill,
and disappeared. IN a little while il returned,
and Mrs' Beekman treated ID again to an egg.
Once more the skunk went on, but IL kept re-
turning until my wife had wasted seven eggs on
II, when IL stopped coming back. The next
evening the skunk was on deck again, and I
guess Mrs. Beekman would have forced nae to
make an assignment II ! hadn't put enough
stTychnins into an egg 10 make the fhstidiOus
little animal turn up its toes