Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

262 e^r.rriNG AND WOODCRAFTand, when it began to char and smoke, he heldthe clothes In the smoke for somewhat less than fiveminutes, by which time the scent was gone, nor didit ever reappear, even when the clothes were damp.Personally I never have had occasion to try any ofthese remedies.The belief that skunk-bite Is likely to cause hydrophobiais common in the Southwest, and to someextent it is borne out by the reports of army surgeons.A considerable number of soldiers andplainsmen bitten by the spotted or rock skunk ofthat region, which Is a particularly aggressive creature,have undoubtedly died of hydrophobia. Yetthe facts seem to be, as explained by W. Wade inthe American Naturalist, that although men andother animals have been stricken mad by skunkbiteand have died therefrom, still this has onlyhappened during an epidemic of rabies, in whichskunks, being slow-moving and utterly fearlesscreatures, fell easy prey to rabid dogs or wolves.Becoming mad, in their turn, they would bite mensleeping in the open, and their bites would usuallybe inflicted upon the men's faces, hands and otherexposed parts of their persons. In such cases, sincenone of the poisonous saliva was wiped off by clothing,the result was almost certain death. Butrabies is very exceptional among skunks, and thebite of a healthy animal isnot a serious matter.The best insurance against skunks and predatorybeasts in general is a good camp dog.Wolverines.— The wolverine, also called glutton,carcajou, skunk bear, and Indian devil, Is thechampion thief of the wilderness. Lacking thespeed of most of his family, the weasel and nii^rtertribe, and devoid of special means of defence suchas have been given the skunk and the porcupine, hehas developed a diabolic cunning, which, coupledwith his great strength and dogged persistence,makes him detested beyond all other creatures luthe wild Northland that he inhabits. He systematicallyrobs hunters of their game, trappers cf