The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1916-01-16

addition there Is q ration OF chopped
corn, which costs about $3.50 a year.
Also, when skunk has been skinned
and its fat removed the rest Of its
body is thrown into the corral and
is esteemed by the surviving rela'
tives of the deceased as highly pal
atable morsel.
There is enough surface dirt In the
dens for the captives to burrow and
find winter quarters. Sometimes
thirty or forty of them live in a single
hole. 1t must not be imagined from
this, however that they visit around
promiscuously. On the contrary, they
have established clans. When one from
another household comes providing
around and sticking his nose into
family affairs, he is reminded of his
indiscretion in a singularly forcibla
and effective way.
The skunk is not only one Of the
abandonment of American "varmints,'
he is also the boldest. He is the beau
sabreur, the Cyrano, the insouciant,
devil may care adventurer Confident
in his powers of offense and defense
he goes carelessly about his way, ask
ing only to be let alone. He is not
looking for trouble, neither is he
avoiding it.
Encounter him about shutdown on a
country road and he will let you
alone, II you do not crowd him. Per-
haps he will hop along in your path
way, keeping just far enough ahead
for your common convenience. IL
you are acquainted with his little pc
culiarities you will permit him to set
the pace. II you are not acquainted
with them-if, perchance, you think
he is a pretty, black and white, kit
tenish little thing, and If, so thinking,
you rush up and try to make a cap
ture. establishment will soon be your
portion, For when you are at Just
right distance he will give his white
tipped tail quick tlirt in your gen
eral direction.
You will then pause. You will sud
denly have lost all inclination to adj
vance. Probably you will be nause-
ated: possibly half choked and half
blinded All the Arabic perfumes nee
essary to purify Lady Macbeths little
hand wouldn't purify your apparel in
year. You are likely to feel long
ing to hide from your fellow man TO.
some time to come. Your fellow man
is likely to reciprocate the feeling
with usury. 70 uhave committed a
gross indiscretion, great strategic
blunder. and you will have to pay the
price. But you have added to your
stock of knowledge. Never again will
you try to kick any little polecat
around.
The oil he employs with such cffec'
tiveness is a yellow, clear liquid,
slightly phosphorescent, so as to be
family visible at night. 1t is acid and
Is virtually acrid when It falls upon
any tender living tissue. 1t is ex-
tremely volatile, and a tiny drop is
sufficient to fill all the surrounding
atmosphere with the offensive odor.
When inhaled in large quantities 1t
Is suffocatlng, sometimes producing
Inconsistencies and even death.
The liquid is distilled within tho
body and is carried through long tubes
to two small capsules imbedded in the
thick muscles at the root of the tail.
The animal can discharge either or
both capsules at will, and his aim is
astonishingly accurate. One would
never think 1t, but he is very miserly
with this fluid. He will not waste 1t,
and will even try all kinds of bluffs to
avoid using 1t. With animals any
where near his own size the skunk
prefers to fight with tooth and claw.
The conclusion, when one is in the
neighborhood Of a skunk's recent oper-
atoms, that he has fred all the oil In
the universe is premature. 1t smells
that way, however, and this is q par
| donahla error. Nv ~