who would otherwise seize it as prey, and its peculiar markings are held by many as constituting "warning colours," thus increasing its protection; these same all-pervading odours must serve to advertise its presence and alarm its own prey, such as Mice, Salamanders, and Frogs, unless these animals are deficient in this sense perception. This seems evident when we read that the smell "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."[1] Frank Buckland relates that a brother officer, just returned from an American trip, told him that one day, as the train was rattling along at a great pace, "all of a sudden a most terrible smell came into the carriage. 'Oh! that's nothing,' said a passenger; 'we have just run over a Skunk'—which was the case. The Skunk's smell kept up with the train for many miles, though it was going at express pace."[2] A species of the same animal (Mephistis patagonica) was killed by Mr. Cunningham's party in Patagonia, and the cap of its destroyer, which had happened to come in contact with the animal, "was for ever afterwards rendered useless."[3] Dr. Leith Adams remembered driving one dark night, along a highway, when the effluvium of a Skunk was perceived for nearly two miles.[4] Dr. Merriam describes it as "slow in movement and deliberate in action, and does not often hurry himself in whatever he does. His ordinary gait is a measured walk, but when pressed for time he breaks into a slow, shuffling gallop."
This slow-moving creature, emitting this awful stench around it, must necessarily give an early alarm to all animals whose business it is to get out of its way, and thus by a principle of compensation the advantages acquired by protection from enemies are, by the same special means, discounted by the greater difficulty of procuring food.[5] For if, as is well known, the offensive
- ↑ Cf. W.K. & T.J. Parker, 'Cass. Nat. Hist.' vol. ii. p. 196.
- ↑ 'Curios. Nat. Hist.' Pop. edit. ser. 2, p. 119, note.
- ↑ 'Notes, Nat. Hist. Strait of Magellan,' p. 110.
- ↑ 'Field and Forest Rambles,' pp. 66–7.
- ↑ The same remark applies to at least some of the Australian snakes. The "Old Bushman" writes:—"There is a strong scent peculiar to the Australian snakes, and I have often smelt one long before I saw it" ('Bush Wanderings
