Larry was right. Skunks are not carrot-eating animals, though they may take a nibble now and then if they are very hungry.
The children had started to get something for Winkie to eat when, all at once, there came a noise which was a dreadful sound to the ground-hog.
It was the barking of a dog!
CHAPTER IX
WINKIE LEARNS TRICKS
Though Winkie had never been very close to any dog except Don, the wily woodchuck knew the bark of this dog meant danger. It is this way with many wild animals, and even with your cat, perhaps, which is not so wild as a woodchuck.
Little kittens, if they are brought up with dogs from their earliest days, may not be afraid of Rover or Towser, whom they know. But they may be afraid of a strange dog. However, almost any cat will arch up its back, hiss and, if it gets a chance, will run away from almost any dog. It was the same with Winkie, though she did not arch her back nor fluff out her tail—woodchucks don’t do that. But Winkie tried to run away as soon as she heard the bark of the dog.
Only she could not get out of the pen. But she did run and hide in her sleeping box, which was partly filled with hay.
“Oh, here comes Buster!” exclaimed Alice. “Don’t let Buster get the woodchuck!”