THE SKUNKS AND THE OVEN-BIRD'S NEST
The Skunks did not go into society at all. They were very unpopular, andso many people feared or disliked them that nobody would invite them toa party. Indeed, if they had been invited to a party and had gone, theother guests would have left at once. The small people of the forestfeared them because they were meat-eaters, and the larger ones dislikedthem because of their disagreeable habits. The Skunks were handsome andquiet, but they were quick-tempered, and as soon as one of them becameangry he threw a horrible smelling liquid on the people who displeasedhim. It was not only horrible smelling, but it made those who had tosmell it steadily quite sick, and would, indeed, have killed them ifthey had not kept in the fresh air. If a drop of this liquid got on to aperson, even his wife and children had to keep away from him for a longtime.
And the Skunks were so unreasonable. They would not stop to see what wasthe real trouble, but if anybody ran into them by mistake in thedarkness, they would just as likely as not throw the liquid at once.Among themselves they seemed to be quite happy. There were from six toten children born at a time in each family. These children lived in theburrow with their father and mother until the next spring, sleepingsteadily through the coldest weather of winter, and only awakening whenit was warm enough for them to enjoy life. When spring came, thechildren found themselves grown-up and went off to live their own livesin new holes, while their mothers took care of the six or seven oreight or nine or ten new babies.
There was one very interesting Skunk family in the forest, with thefather, mother, and eight children living in one hole. No two of themwere marked in exactly the same way, although all were stoutly built,had small heads, little round ears, and beautiful long tails coveredwith soft, drooping hair. Their fur was rather long and handsome andthey were dark brown or black nearly all over. Most of them had a streakof white on the forehead, a spot of it on the neck, some on the tail,and a couple of stripes of it on their backs. One could see them quiteeasily by starlight on account of the white fur.
The Skunks were really very proud of their white stripes and spots. "Itis not so much having the white fur," Mrs. Skunk had been heard to say,"as it is having it where all can see it. Most animals wear the dark furon their backs and the light on their bellies, and that is to make themsafer from enemies. But we dare to wear ours in plain sight. _We_ arenever afraid."
And what she said was true, although it hardly seemed modest for her totalk about it in that way. It would have been more polite to let otherpeople tell how brave her family were. Perhaps, however, if somebodyelse had been telling it, he would have said that part of their couragewas rudeness.
Father Skunk always talked to his children as his father had talked tohim, and probably as his grandfather had also talked when he was raisinga family. "Never turn out of your way for anybody," said he. "Let theother fellow step aside. Remember that, no matter whom you meet and nomatter how large the other people may be. If they see you, they will getout of your path, and if they can't it is not your fault. Don't speakto them and don't hurry. Always take your time."
Father Skunk was slow and stately. It was a sight worth seeing when hestarted off for a night's ramble, walking with a slow and measured gaitand carrying his fine tail high over his back. He always went byhimself. "One is company, two is a crowd," he would say as he walkedaway. When they were old enough, the young Skunks began to walk offalone as soon as it was dark. Mother Skunk also went alone, and perhapsshe had the best time of all, for it was a great rest not to have eightbabies tumbling over her back and getting under her feet and hanging onto her with their thirty-two paws, and sometimes even scratching herwith their one hundred and sixty claws. They still slept through thedays in the old hole, so they were together much of the time, but theydid not hunt in parties, as Raccoons and Weasels do.
HE STARTED OFF FOR A NIGHT'S RAMBLE. _Page 72_]
One of the brothers had no white whatever on his tail, so they calledhim the Black-tailed Skunk. He had heard in some way that there was anOvenbird's nest on the ground by the fern bank, and he made up his mindto find it the very next night and eat the eggs which were inside.
Another brother was called the Spotted Skunk, because the spot on hisneck was so large. He had found the Ovenbird's nest himself, while onhis way home in the early morning. He would have liked to rob it then,but he had eaten so much that night that he thought it better to wait.
So it happened that when the family awakened the next night two of thechildren had important plans of their own. Neither of them would havetold for anything, but they couldn't quite keep from hinting about it asthey made themselves ready to go out.
"Aha!" said the Black-tailed Skunk. "I know something you don't know."
"Oh, tell us!" cried four or five of the other children, while theSpotted Skunk twisted his head and said, "You don't either!"
"I do too!" replied the Black-tailed Skunk.
"Children! Children!" exclaimed Mrs. Skunk, while their father said thathe couldn't see where his children got their quarrelsome disposition,for none of his people had ever contradicted or disputed. His wife toldhim that she really thought them very good, and that she was sure theybehaved much better than most Skunks of their age. Then their fatherwalked off in his most stately manner, putting his feet down almostflat, and carrying his tail a little higher than usual.
"I do know something that you don't," repeated the Black-tailed Skunk,"and it's something nice, too."
"Aw!" said the Spotted Skunk. "I don't believe it, and I don't careanyhow."
"I know you don't know, and I know you'd want to know if you knew what Iknow," said the Black-tailed Skunk, who was now getting so excited thathe could hardly talk straight.
"Children!" exclaimed their mother. "Not another word about that. I dowish you would wake up good-natured."
"He started it," said the Spotted Skunk, "and we're not quarrellinganyhow. But I guess he'd give a good deal to know where I'm going."
"Children!" repeated their mother. "Go at once. I will not have youtalking in this way before your brothers and sisters. Do not stop totalk, but go!"
So the two brothers started out for the night and each thought he wouldgo a roundabout way to fool the other. The Black-tailed Skunk went tothe right, and the Spotted Skunk went to the left, but each of them,you know, really started to rob the Ovenbird's nest. It was a very darknight. Even the stars were all hidden behind thick clouds, and one couldhardly see one's forepaws while walking. But, of course, thenight-prowlers of the forest are used to this, and four-footed peopleare not so likely to stumble and fall as two-footed ones. Besides, youngSkunks have to remember where logs and stumps of trees are, just asother people have to remember their lessons.
So it happened that, while Mrs. Ovenbird was sleeping happily with herfour eggs safe and warm under her breast, two people were coming fromdifferent ways to rob her. Such a snug nest as it was! She had chosen atiny hollow in the fern bank and had cunningly woven dry grasses andleaves into a ball-shaped nest, which fitted neatly into the hollow andhad a doorway on one side.
The Black-tailed Skunk sneaked up to the nest from one side. The SpottedSkunk sneaked up from the other side. Once the Black-tailed Skunkthought he heard some other creature moving toward him. At the sameminute the Spotted Skunk thought he heard somebody, so he stopped tolisten. Neither heard anything. Mrs. Ovenbird was sure that she heard aleaf rustle outside, and it made her anxious until she remembered that adead twig might have dropped from the beech-tree overhead and hit thedry leaves below.
Slowly the two brothers crept toward the nest and each other. They movedvery quietly, because each wanted to catch the mother-bird if he could.Close to the nest hollow they crouched and sprang with jaws open andsharp teeth ready to bite. There was a sudden crashing of leaves andferns. The two brothers had sprung squarely at each other, each wasbitten, growled, and ran away. And how they did run! It is not often,you know, that Skunks go faster than a walk, but when they are reallyscared th
ey move very, very swiftly.
Mrs. Ovenbird felt her nest roof crush down upon her for a minute as twopeople rolled and growled outside. Then she heard them running away indifferent directions and knew that she was safe, for a time at least. Inthe morning she repaired her nest and told her bird friends about it.They advised her to take her children away as soon as possible afterthey were hatched. "If the Skunks have found your nest," they said, "youmay have another call from them."
When the Black-tailed Skunk came stealing home in the first faint lightjust before sunrise, he found the Spotted Skunk telling the rest of thefamily how some horrible great fierce beast had pounced upon him in thedarkness and bitten him on the shoulder. "It was so dark," said he,"that I couldn't see him at all, but I am sure it must have been aBear."
They turned to tell the Black-tailed Skunk about his brother'smisfortune, and saw that he limped badly. "Did the Bear catch you, too?"they cried.
"Yes," answered he. "It must have been a Bear. It was so big and strongand fierce. But I bit him, too. I wouldn't have run away from him, onlyhe was so much bigger than I."
"That was just the way with me," said the Spotted Skunk. "I wouldn'thave run if he hadn't been so big."
"You should have thrown liquid on him," said their father. "Then hewould have been the one to run."
The brothers hung their heads. "We never thought," they cried. "We thinkit must have been because we were so surprised and didn't see himcoming."
"Well," said their father sternly, "I suppose one must be patient withchildren, but such unskunklike behavior makes me very much ashamed ofyou both." Then the two bitten brothers went to bed in disgrace,although their mother was sorry for them and loved them, as mothers willdo, even when their children are naughty or cowardly.
One night, some time later, these two brothers happened to meet down bythe fern bank. It was bright moonlight and they stopped to visit, forboth were feeling very good-natured. The Black-tailed Skunk said: "Comewith me and I'll show you where there is an Ovenbird's nest."
"All right," answered the Spotted Skunk, "and then I'll show you one."
"I've just been waiting for a bright night," said the Black-tailedSkunk, "because I came here once in the dark and had bad luck."
"It was near here," said the Spotted Skunk, "that I was bitten by theBear."
They stopped beside a tiny hollow. "There is the nest," said theBlack-tailed Skunk, pointing with one of his long forefeet.
"Why, that is the one I meant," exclaimed the Spotted Skunk.
"I found it first," said the Black-tailed Skunk, "and I'd have eaten theeggs before if that Bear hadn't bitten me."
Just at that minute the two Skunks had a new idea. "We do believe,"cried they, "that we bit each other!"
"We certainly did," said the Spotted Skunk.
"But we'll never tell," said the Black-tailed Skunk.
"Now," they added together, "let's eat everything."
But they didn't. In fact, they didn't eat anything, for the eggs werehatched, and the young birds had left the nest only the day before.