Standing once more in front of the stone pile he shook himselfuntil his fur stood out all over him, that fur for whichany dealer would give a big price
STRIPED COAT
THE SKUNK
by
Joseph Wharton Lippincott
Author of “Bun, a Wild Rabbit”
“Red Ben, the Fox of Oak Ridge”
and “Gray Squirrel”
Illustrated by the author
THE PENN PUBLISHING
COMPANY PHILADELPHIA
MCMXXII
COPYRIGHT
1922 BY
THE PENN
PUBLISHING
COMPANY
Striped Coat, the Skunk
MADE IN U. S. A.
INTRODUCTION
Lest I be misunderstood in callingthis wonderful little animal man’sbest friend among the furry creatures ofthe wood, let me at the outset draw attentionto the fact that, far from puttinga bounty on its destruction as somepeople might think desirable, manystates have laws protecting it, as muchfor its usefulness to the farmers as forthe value of its very beautiful fur.
The large black and white stripedskunks we or our pet dogs often encounter,sometimes to our disaster, belongonly in North America. Our friendStriped Coat was one of these. In thesouthern and western states lives also alittle cousin of his—the spotted skunk—whosefur though attractive is not sovaluable; but neither he nor the broad-stripedskunk of Central and SouthAmerica enter the pages of this story,for Striped Coat lived his life farthernorth than the range of either.
All of the skunk family still seem tobe considered unpleasant and almost unmentionablecreatures merely because oftheir ability to throw in self-defence aliquid, in the form of a spray, possessinganything but the fragrance of roses.Admitting that the odor is indescribablyawful and that to get it on one’s clothingis anything but a reason for joy, itmay still be claimed that the skunk himselfis by no means a “smelly” animaland that his recourse to this means ofdefending his life is quite permissible asproved by our own methods of warfare.
In the ocean the otherwise defencelesslittle squid, when attacked, throws outa dark liquid which spreads in the waterand either blinds its pursuer momentarilyor so confuses his vision that theactive squid has time to escape. It isthe same thing in the case of the skunk.Let a fierce dog rush at him, and when ashow of his little teeth and a bravestand have failed to save the poor fellow,deny him if you can the right to useas a last resort this stinging, pungentmusk which, properly aimed at the eyesof his big enemy will have just enougheffect to allow him a safe and bloodlessretreat.
I do not doubt that there are manyskunks who have never had occasion topollute the air in this way. Severalhave lived for years in drai