Striped Coat, the Skunk

Standing once more in front of the stone pile he shook himself until his fur stood out all over him, that fur for which any dealer would give a big price
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.
Lest I be misunderstood in calling this wonderful little animal man’s best friend among the furry creatures of the wood, let me at the outset draw attention to the fact that, far from putting a bounty on its destruction as some people might think desirable, many states have laws protecting it, as much for its usefulness to the farmers as for the value of its very beautiful fur.
The large black and white striped skunks we or our pet dogs often encounter, sometimes to our disaster, belong only in North America. Our friend Striped Coat was one of these. In the southern and western states lives also a little cousin of his—the spotted skunk—whose fur though attractive is not so valuable; but neither he nor the broad-striped skunk of Central and South America enter the pages of this story, for Striped Coat lived his life farther north than the range of either.
All of the skunk family still seem to be considered unpleasant and almost unmentionable creatures merely because of their ability to throw in self-defence a liquid, in the form of a spray, possessing anything but the fragrance of roses. Admitting that the odor is indescribably awful and that to get it on one’s clothing is anything but a reason for joy, it may still be claimed that the skunk himself is by no means a “smelly” animal and that his recourse to this means of defending his life is quite permissible as proved by our own methods of warfare.
In the ocean the otherwise defenceless little squid, when attacked, throws out a dark liquid which spreads in the water and either blinds its pursuer momentarily or so confuses his vision that the active squid has time to escape. It is the same thing in the case of the skunk. Let a fierce dog rush at him, and when a show of his little teeth and a brave stand have failed to save the poor fellow, deny him if you can the right to use as a last resort this stinging, pungent musk which, properly aimed at the eyes of his big enemy will have just enough effect to allow him a safe and bloodless retreat.