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Show 1894.] MAMMALS OF URUGUAY. 305 they doubt it. On m y making inquiries upon the point, the m an I was staying with at once told m e that ridiag one day up to one of his puestos, he was in time to see the peon come out of the rancho swinging a Skunk round his head; it made no smell and was dashed down on the ground and killed, inodorous. The Skunk had got into the house in some way. I also heard that the possibility of the thing was well known. Secondly, there was brought to m e the skin of a Skunk which was " tailed" by a little boy as it was busily digging roots-so said the boy's father on m y inquiring how it was caught; and he intimated that it was not by any means an unusual thing. Then one of the peons at the estancia, finding a Skunk asleep under his catre " tailed" it out; but unfortunately I did not see him do it. But at last I did see the operation. One of the peons found a Skunk one morning behind some wood piled up at the side of the big galpon-with a quick snatch he caught its tail and jerked it out. There he stood for five minutes swinging it gently round and round, there being no smell (beyond that which always clings about a Skunk). Another m a n then gave it a tap on the head with a stick, and the peon, thinking it was killed, threw it away. But no sooner was it on the ground than it was on its feet: up went the danger signal, and-well, we all had to clear out! The beast ran off and got into another galpon, where the dogs killed it; the whole place then smelt of Skunk, but until the beast touched the ground it was innocuous and inodorous. It seems that the " scent "-gland cannot be opened unless the tail is at a right angle, or something near it, with the line of body; and that therefore when held by the tail the weight of the Skunk's body keeps the tail more or less in a line with it, and the Skunk is unable to discharge its vile secretion. The actions of the one mentioned above seem to prove this. To perform this operation it is of course necessary to catch the Skunk asleep, or otherwise deeply occupied (digging roots for instance), and to run the risk of its waking up or turning round and seeing you. I believe I could have easily done it myself, as I have more than once seen a Skunk lying curled up asleep in the daytime. Indeed, while looking for a parrot I had shot among some bushes, I very nearly stepped upon one which was curled up on the ground; and there it remained until (having picked up m y bird) I put a revolver bullet through its body. However, I never cared to risk the loss of useful garments, it having been proved, I believe, that clothes once well dosed at close quarters may as well be burnt. The Skunk passes the daytime in sleep, when undisturbed. In Soriano I used to find them laid up in holes under and clefts in the granite boulder rocks, in deserted ant-nests, among paja orass or in the crown of a big hassock of this, and in one or two cases on the ground among bushes. In the latter case it lies on its side curled round. When roused in a hole by a dog it presents a rather diabolical appearance as it pops its little vicious head out. Notwithstanding demonstrations of this kind, I have |