The Burgess Animal Book for Children
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Thornton W. Burgess >> The Burgess Animal Book for Children
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Just then Jimmy noticed Old Mother Nature and hastened to bow his
head in a funny way. "Please excuse me, Mother Nature," he said,
"I thought school was over. I don't want to interrupt."
Old Mother Nature smiled. The fact is, Old Mother Nature is rather
fond of Jimmy Skunk. "You aren't interrupting," said she. "The
fact is, we had just ended the lesson about Flitter the Bat and
his relatives, and were trying to decide who to study about next.
I think you came along at just the right time. You belong to a
large and rather important order, one that all these little folks
here ought to know about. How many cousins have you, Jimmy?"
Jimmy Skunk looked a little surprised at the question. He scratched
his head thoughtfully. "Let me see," said he, "I have several close
cousins in the Skunk branch of the family, but I presume you want to
know who my cousins are outside of the Skunk branch. They are
Shadow the Weasel, Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter. These are the
only ones I can think of now."
"How about Digger the Badger?" asked Old Mother Nature.
A look of surprise swept over Jimmy Skunk's face. "Digger the
Badger!" he exclaimed. "Digger the Badger is no cousin of mine!"
"Tut, tut, tut!" chided Old Mother Nature. "Tut, tut, tut, Jimmy
Skunk! It is high time you came to school. Digger the Badger is
just as much a cousin of yours as is Shadow the Weasel. You are
members of the same order and it is a rather large order. It is
called the Car-niv-o-ra, which means 'flesh-eating.' You are a
member of the Marten or Weasel family, and that family is called
the 'Mus-tel-i-dae.' Digger the Badger is also a member of that
family. That means that you two are cousins. You and Digger and
Glutton the Wolverine belong to the stout-bodied branch of the
family. Billy Mink, Little Joe Otter, Shadow the Weasel, Pekan
the Fisher and Spite the Marten belong to its slim-bodied branch.
But all are members of the same family despite the difference in
looks, and thus, of course, are cousins. Seeing that you are here,
Jimmy, I think we will find out just how much these little folks
know about you.
"Peter Rabbit, tell us what you know about Jimmy Skunk."
"I know one thing about him," declared Peter, "and that's that he is
the most independent fellow in the world. He isn't afraid of anybody.
I saw Buster Bear actually step out of his way the other day."
Jimmy Skunk grinned. "Buster always treats me very politely,"
said Jimmy.
"I have noticed that everybody does, even Farmer Brown's boy," spoke
up Happy Jack Squirrel.
"It is easy enough to be independent when everybody is afraid of
you," sputtered Chatterer the Red Squirrel.
"Just why is everybody afraid of Jimmy Skunk " asked Old
Mother Nature.
"They are afraid of that little scent gun he carries," spoke up Peter
Rabbit. "I wish I had one just like it."
Old Mother Nature shook her head. "It wouldn't do, Peter, to trust
you with a gun like Jimmy Skunk's," said she. "You are altogether
too heedless and careless. If you had a scent gun like Jimmy's, I
am afraid there would be trouble in the Green Forest and on the Green
Meadow all the time. I suspect that you would drive everybody else
away. Jimmy is never heedless or careless. He never uses that little
scent gun unless he is in real danger or thinks he is. Usually he
is pretty sure that he is before he uses it. I'll venture to say
that not one of you has seen Jimmy use that little scent gun."
Peter looked at Jumper the Hare. Jumper looked at Chatterer. Chatterer
looked at Happy Jack. Happy Jack looked at Danny Meadow Mouse. Danny
looked at Striped Chipmunk. Striped looked at Johnny Chuck. Johnny
looked at Whitefoot the Wood Mouse. Then all looked at Old Mother
Nature and shook their heads. "I thought as much," said she. "Jimmy
is wonderfully well armed, but for defense only. He never makes the
mistake of misusing that little scent gun. But everybody knows he
has it, so nobody interferes with him. Now, Peter, what more do you
know about Jimmy?"
"He's lazy," replied Peter.
"I'm not lazy," retorted Jimmy Skunk. "I'm no more lazy than you
are. You call me lazy just because I don't hurry. I don't have
to hurry, and I never can see any good in hurrying when one
doesn't have to."
"That will do," interposed Old Mother Nature. "Go on, Peter, with
what you know about Jimmy." "He is good-natured," said Peter, and
grinned at Jimmy.
Jimmy grinned back. "Thank you, Peter," said he.
"He is one of the best-natured people I know," continued Peter. "I
guess it is a lucky thing for the rest of us that he is. I have
noticed that fat people are usually good-natured, and Jimmy is nearly
always fat. In fact, I don't think I have seen him what you would
call really thin excepting very early in the spring. He eats Beetles
and grubs and Grasshoppers and Crickets and insects of all sorts. I
am told that he steals eggs when he can find them."
"Yes, and he catches members of my family when he can," spoke up Danny
Meadow Mouse. "I never feel safe with Jimmy Skunk very near."
Jimmy didn't look at all put out. "I might as well confess that
tender Mouse is rather to my liking," said he, "and I might add that
I also enjoy a Frog now and then, or a Lizard or a fish."
"Also you might mention that young birds don't come amiss when you
can get them," spoke up Chatterer the Red Squirrel maliciously.
Jimmy looked up at Chatterer. "That's a case of the pot calling
the kettle black," said he and Chatterer made a face at him. But
Chatterer said nothing more, for he knew that all the others knew
that what Jimmy said was true: Chatterer had robbed many a nest
of young birds.
"Is that all you know about Jimmy?" asked Old Mother Nature of Peter.
"I guess it is," replied Peter, "excepting that he lives in a hole
in the ground, and I seldom see him out in winter. I rather think
he sleeps all winter, the same as Johnny Chuck does."
"You've got another think coming, Peter," said Jimmy. "I sleep a
lot during the winter, but I don't go into winter quarters until
well after snow comes, and I don't sleep the way Johnny Chuck does.
Sometimes I go out in winter and hunt around a little."
"Do you dig your house?" asked Old Mother Nature.
Jimmy shook his head. "Not when I can help myself," said he, "It
is too much work. If I have to I do, but I would much rather use
one of Johnny Chuck's old houses. His houses suit me first rate."
"I want you all to look at Jimmy very closely," said Old Mother
Nature. "You will notice that he is about the size of Black
Pussy, the Cat from Farmer Brown's, and that his coat is black
with broad white stripes. But not all Skunks are marked alike. I
dare say that no two of Jimmy's children would be exactly alike.
I suspect that one or more might be all black, with perhaps a
little bit of white on the tail. Notice that Jimmy's front feet
have long, sharp claws. He uses these to dig out grubs and
insects in the ground, and for pulling over sticks and stones in
his search for beetles. Also notice that he places his feet on
the ground very much as does Buster Bear. That big, bushy tail
of his is for the purpose of warning folks. Jimmy never shoots
that little scent gun without first giving warning. When that
tail of his begins to go up in the air, wise people watch out.
"A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that Jimmy Skunk and
his family do a great deal of harm. The truth is, they do a great
deal of good to man. Once in a while they will make the mistake
of stealing Chickens or eggs, but it is only once in a while. They
make up for all they take in this way by the pests they destroy.
Jimmy and Mrs. Skunk have a large family each year, usually from
six to ten. Mrs. Skunk usually is living by herself when the babies
are born, but when they are big enough to walk their father rejoins
the family, and you may see them almost any pleasant evening
starting out together to hunt for Grasshoppers, Beetles and other
things. Often the whole family remains together the whole winter,
not breaking up until spring. Jimmy is one of the neatest of all
my little people and takes the best of care of his handsome coat.
He isn't afraid of water and can swim if it is necessary. He does
most of his hunting at night, sleeping during the day. He is one
of the few little wild people who haven't been driven away by man,
and often makes his home close to man's home.
"Jimmy has own cousins in nearly all parts of this great country.
Way down in the Southwest is one called the Hog-nosed Skunk, one of
the largest of the family. He gets his name because of the shape
of his nose and the fact that he roots in the ground the same as
a hog. He is also called the Badger Skunk because of the big claws
on his front feet and the fact that he is a great digger. His fur
is not so fine as that of Jimmy Skunk, but is rather coarse and
harsh. He is even more of an insect eater than is Jimmy.
"The smallest of Jimmy's own cousins is the Little Spotted Skunk.
He is only about half as big as Jimmy, and his coat, instead of
being striped with white like Jimmy's, is covered with irregular
white lines and spots, making it appear very handsome. He lives
in the southern half of the country and in habits is much like
Jimmy, but he is much livelier. Occasionally he climbs low trees.
Like Jimmy he eats almost anything he can find. And it goes
without saying that, like Jimmy, he carries a little scent gun.
By the way, Jimmy, what do you do when you are angry? Show us."
Jimmy began to growl, a queer-sounding little growl, and at the
same time to stamp the ground with his front feet. Old Mother
Nature laughed. "When you see Jimmy do that," said she, "it is
best to pretend you don't see him and keep out of his way."
"Hasn't Jimmy any enemies at all?" asked Peter Rabbit.
"That depends on how hungry some folks get," replied Old Mother
Nature. "Hooty the Owl doesn't seem to mind Jimmy's little scent
gun, but this is the only one I can think of who doesn't. Some of
the bigger animals might take him if they were starving, but even
then I think they would think twice. Who knows where Digger the
Badger is living?"
"I do," replied Peter Rabbit. "He is living out on the Green
Meadows over near the Old Pasture."
"All right, Peter," replied Old Mother Nature, "suppose you run
over and pay him a visit and to-morrow morning you can tell us
about it."
CHAPTER XXIII Digger and His Cousin Glutton
"Well, Peter," said Old Mother Nature, "did you visit Digger the
Badger yesterday?"
"Yes'm," replied Peter, "I visited him, but I didn't find out much.
He's a regular old grouch. He isn't the least bit neighborly. It
took me a long time to find him. He has more holes than anybody I
ever knew, and I couldn't tell which one is his home. When I did
find him, he gave me a terrible scare. I didn't see him until I
was right on top of him, and if I hadn't jumped, and jumped quickly,
I guess I wouldn't be here this morning. He was lying flat down in
the grass and he was so very flat that I just didn't see him. When
I told him that I wanted to know all about him and his ways, he
replied that it was none of my business how he lived or what he did,
and that was all I could get out of him.
"I sat around awhile and watched him, but he didn't do much except
take a sun bath. He certainly is a queer-looking fellow to be a
member of the Weasel family. There's nothing about him that looks
like a Weasel, that I could see. Of course, he isn't as broad as
he is long, but he looks almost that when he is lying flat down and
that long hair of his is spread out on both sides. He really has a
handsome coat when you come to look at it. It is silvery gray and
silky looking. It seems to be parted right down the middle of his
back. His tail is rather short, but stout and hairy. His head and
face are really handsome. His cheeks, chin and a broad stripe from
his nose right straight back over his head are white. On each cheek
is a bar of black. The back part of each ear is black, and so are
his feet. He has rather a sharp nose. Somehow when he is walking
he makes me think of a little, flattened-out Bear with very short
legs. And such claws as he has on his front feet! I don't know
any one with such big strong claws for his size. I guess that must
be because he is such a digger."
"That's a very good guess, Peter," said Old Mother Nature. "Has
any one here ever seen him dig?"
"I did once," replied Peter. "I happened to be over near where he
lives when Farmer Brown's boy came along and surprised Digger some
distance from one of his holes. Digger didn't try to get to one of
those holes; he simply began to dig. My gracious, how the sand did
fly! He was out of sight in the ground before Farmer Brown's boy
could get to him. Johnny Chuck is pretty good at digging, but he
simply isn't in the same class with Digger the Badger. No one is
that I know of, unless it is Miner the Mole. I guess this is all
I know about him, excepting that he is a great fighter. Once I saw
him whip a dog almost twice his size. I never heard such hissing
and snarling and growling. He wouldn't tell me anything about how
he lives."
"Very good, Peter, very good," replied Old Mother Nature, "That's
as much as I expected you would be able to find out. Digger is
a queer fellow. His home is on the great plains and in the flat,
open country of the Middle West and Far West, where Gophers and
Ground Squirrels and Prairie Dogs live. They furnish him with the
greater part of his food. All of them are good diggers, but they
don't stand any chance when he sets out to dig them out.
"Digger spends most of his time under ground during daylight, seldom
coming out except for a sun bath. But as soon as jolly, round, red
Mr. Sun goes to bed for the night, Digger appears and travels about
in search of a dinner. His legs are so short and he is so stout and
heavy that he is slow and rather clumsy, but he makes up for that by
his ability to dig. He doesn't expect to catch any one on the surface,
unless he happens to surprise a Meadow Mouse within jumping distance.
He goes hunting for the holes of Ground Squirrels and other burrowers,
and when he finds one promptly digs. He eats Grasshoppers, Beetles
and small Snakes, as well as such small animals as he catches. It
was well for you, Peter, that you jumped when you did, for I suspect
that Digger would have enjoyed a Rabbit dinner.
"Very little is known of Digger's family life, but he is a good
husband. In winter he sleeps as Johnny Chuck does, coming out soon
after the snow disappears in the spring. Of all my little people,
none has greater courage. When he is cornered he will fight as
long as there is a breath of life in him. His skin is very tough
and he is further protected by his long hair. His teeth are sharp
and strong and he can always give a good account of himself in a
fight. He is afraid of no one of his own size.
"Man hunts him for his fur, but man is very stupid in many things and
this is an example. You see, Digger is worth a great deal more alive
than dead, because of the great number of destructive Rodents he
kills. The only thing that can be brought against him is the number
of holes he digs. Mr. and Mrs. Digger have two to five babies late
in the spring or early in the summer. They are born under ground in
a nest of grass. As you may guess just by looking at Digger, he is
very strong. If he once gets well into the ground, a strong man
pulling on his tail cannot budge him. As Peter has pointed out, he
isn't at all sociable. Mr. and Mrs. Digger are quite satisfied to
live by themselves and be left alone. So he is rarely seen in
daytime, but probably is out oftener than is supposed. Peter has
told how he nearly stepped on Digger before seeing him. It is
Digger's wise habit to lie perfectly still until he is sure he has
been seen, so people often pass him without seeing him at all, or
if they see him they take him for a stone.
"While Digger the Badger is a lover of the open country and doesn't
like the Green Forest at all he has a cousin who is found only in
the Green Forest and usually very deep in the Green Forest at that.
This is Glutton the Wolverine, the largest and ugliest member of the
family. None of you have seen him, because he lives almost wholly
in the great forests of the North. He hasn't a single friend that
I know of, but that doesn't trouble him in the least.
"Glutton has several names. He is called 'Carcajou' in the Far
North, and out in the Far West is often called 'Skunkbear.' The
latter name probably is given him because in shape and color he
looks a good deal as though he might be half Skunk and half Bear.
He is about three feet long with a tail six inches long, and is
thickset and heavy. His legs are short and very stout. His hair,
including that on the tail, is long and shaggy. It is blackish-
brown, becoming grayish on the upper part of his head and cheeks.
His feet are black. When he walks he puts his feet flat on the
ground as a Bear does.
"Being so short of leg and heavy of body, he is slow in his movements.
But what he lacks in this respect he makes up in strength and cunning.
You think Reddy Fox and Old Man Coyote are smart, but neither begins
to be as smart as Glutton the Wolverine. He is a great traveler, and
in the Far North where the greater part of the fur of the world is
trapped, he is a pest to the trappers. He will follow a trapper all
day long, keeping just out of sight. No matter how carefully a trapper
hides a trap, Glutton will find it and steal the bait without getting
caught. Sometimes he even tears up the traps and takes them off and
hides them in the woods. If he comes on a trap in which some other
animal has been caught, he will eat the animal. His strength is so
great that often he will tear his way into the cabins of hunters while
they are absent and then eat or destroy all their food. His appetite
is tremendous, and it is because of this that he is called Glutton.
What he cannot eat or take away, he covers with filth so that no
other animal will touch it. He is of ugly disposition and is hated
alike by the animals and by man. His fur is of considerable value,
but he is hunted more for the purpose of getting rid of him than for
his fur. Sometimes when caught in a trap he will pick it up and
carry it for miles.
"Mrs. Glutton has two or three babies in the spring. They live
in a cave, but if a cave cannot be found, they use a hole in the
ground which Mrs. Glutton digs. It is usually well hidden and seldom
has been found by man. Glutton will eat any kind of flesh and seems
not to care whether it be freshly killed or so old that it is decayed.
The only way that hunters can protect their supplies is by covering
them with great logs. Even then Glutton will often tear the logs
apart to get at the supplies. Because of his great cunning, the
Indians think he is possessed of an evil spirit.
"I think this will do for to-day. To-morrow we will take up
another branch of the family, some members of which all of you
know. I wonder if it wouldn't be a good plan to have Shadow
the Weasel here."
Such a look of dismay as swept over the faces of all those little
people, with the exception of Jimmy Skunk and Prickly Porky! "If--
if--if you please, I don't think I'll come to-morrow morning," said
Danny Meadow Mouse.
"I--I--I think I shall be too busy at home and will have to miss
that lesson," said Striped Chipmunk.
Old Mother Nature smiled. "Don't worry, little folks," said she.
"You ought to know that if I had Shadow here I wouldn't let him
hurt one of you. But I am afraid if he were here you would pay
no attention to me, so I promise you that Shadow will not be
anywhere near."
CHAPTER XXIV Shadow and His Family
Every one was on hand when school opened the next morning, despite
the fear that the mere mention of Shadow the Weasel had aroused in
all save Jimmy Skunk and Prickly Porky. You see, all felt they must
be there so that they might learn all they possibly could about one
they so feared. It might help them to escape should they discover
Shadow hunting them sometime.
"Striped Chipmunk," said Old Mother Nature, "you know something about
Shadow the Weasel, tell us what you know."
"I know I hate him!" declared Striped Chipmunk, and all the others
nodded their heads in agreement. "I don't know a single good thing
about him," he continued, "but I know plenty of bad things. He is
the one enemy I fear more than any other because he is the one who
can go wherever I can. Any hole I can get into he can. I've seen
him just twice in my life, and I hope I may never see him again."
"What did he look like?" asked Old Mother Nature.
"Like a snake on legs," declared Striped Chipmunk. "Anyway, that
is what he made me think of, because his body was so long and slim
and he twisted and turned so easily. He was about as long as
Chatterer the Red Squirrel but looked longer because of his slim
body and long neck. He was brown above and white below. His front
feet were white, and his hind feet rather whitish, but not clear
white. His short, round tail was black at the end. Somehow his
small head and sharp face made me think of a Snake. Ugh! I don't
like to think about him!"
"I saw him once, and he wasn't brown at all. Striped Chipmunk is
all wrong, excepting about the end of his tail," interrupted Jumper
the Hare. "He was all white, every bit of him but the end of his
tail, that was black."
"Striped Chipmunk is quite right and so are you," declared Old Mother
Nature. "Striped Chipmunk saw him in summer and you saw him in winter.
He changes his coat according to season, just as you do yourself,
Jumper. In winter he is trapped for his fur and he isn't called
Weasel then at all, but Ermine."
"Oh," said Jumper and looked as if he felt a wee bit foolish.
"What was he doing when you saw him?" asked Old Mother Nature, turning
to Striped Chipmunk.
"Hunting," replied Striped Chipmunk, and shivered. "He was hunting
me. He had found my tracks where I had been gathering beechnuts,
and he was following them with his nose just the way Bowser the
Hound follows Reddy Fox. I nearly died of fright when I saw him."
"You are lucky to be alive," declared Chatterer the Red Squirrel.
"I know it," replied Striped Chipmunk and shivered again. "I know
it. I guess I wouldn't be if Reddy Fox hadn't happened along just
then and frightened Shadow away. I've had a kindlier feeling for
Reddy Fox ever since."
"I never ran harder in my life than the time I saw him," spoke up
Jumper the Hare. "He was hunting me just the same way, running
with his nose in the snow and following every twist and turn I had
made. But for that black-tipped tail I wouldn't have seen him
until too late."
"Pooh!" exclaimed Jimmy Skunk. "The idea of a big fellow like you
running from such a little fellow as my Cousin Shadow!"
"I'm not ashamed of running," declared Jumper. "I may be ever so
much bigger, but he is so quick I wouldn't stand the least chance
in the world. When I suspect Shadow is about, I go somewhere else,
the farther the better. If I could climb a tree like Chatterer,
it would be different."
"No, it wouldn't!" interrupted Chatterer. "No, it wouldn't. That
fellow can climb almost as well as I can. The only thing that
saved me from him once was the fact that I could make a long jump
from one tree to another and he couldn't. He had found a hole in
a certain tree where I was living, and it was just luck that I
wasn't at home when he called. I was just returning when he
popped out. I ran for my life."
"He is the most awful fellow in all the Great World," declared
Whitefoot the Wood Mouse.
Jimmy Skunk chuckled right out. "A lot you know about the Great
World," he said. "Why, you are farther from home now than you've
ever been in your life before, yet I could walk to it in a few
minutes. How do you know Shadow is the most awful fellow in the
Great World?"
"I just know, that's all," retorted Whitefoot in a very positive
though squeaky voice. "He hunts and kills just for the love of
it, and no one, no matter how big he is, can do anything more
awful than that. I have a lot of enemies. Sometimes it seems as
if almost every one of my neighbors is looking for a Mouse dinner.
But all but Shadow the Weasel hunt me when they are hungry and
need food. I can forgive them for that. Every one must eat to
live. But Shadow hunts me even when his stomach is so full he
cannot eat another mouthful. That fellow just loves to kill.
He takes pleasure in it. That is what makes him so awful."
"Whitefoot is right," declared Old Mother Nature, and she spoke
sadly. "If Shadow was as big as Buster Bear or Puma the Panther
or even Tufty the Lynx, he would be the most terrible creature in
all the Great World because of this awful desire to kill which
fills him. He is hot-blooded, quick-tempered and fearless. Even
when cornered by an enemy against whom he has no chance he will
fight to the last gasp. I am sorry to say that there is no
kindness nor gentleness in him towards any save his own family.
Outside of that he hasn't a friend in the world, not one."
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