In addition, skunks have an even more potent weapon in the secretion
of a vile-smelling liquid which is sprayed on a dangerous enemy. So
confident are skunks in the efficacy of this weapon that they are
extremely calm and unhurried in their manners and take little trouble
to avoid an encounter with man or beast. Their odorous weapon is not
used among themselves and appears to be held for service against more
dangerous enemies.
Scent glands are common among rodents, carnivores, and insectivores,
but are ordinarily used for purposes of communication with others of
their kind, sometimes to attract the opposite sex and sometimes merely
to give notice of their presence in a locality.
The hard school of experience holding through the ages has taught many
of our rodents the necessity of lying up stores of food to meet periods
of scarcity. Many species store food in a desultory way whenever a
surplus is available, but when harvest time comes, at the close of
summer, the work is taken up as a serious occupation during many busy
hours each day or night by the species living where the severe northern
winters make the stores a necessity.
The storage instinct is possessed as well by many of the southern
desert species, where climatic conditions permit activity throughout
the year. In such regions the supplies serve during storms and in
periods of drought, when the yield of plant food is limited.
[Illustration:
Photograph by Howard Taylor Middleton.