$Unique_ID{QAD00278}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Californian Skunk}
$Subject{Californian Skunk; Mephitis; Zorilla}
$Journal{Quadrupeds of North America:  Volume III}
$Volume{Vol. 3:276-278}
$Genus{Mephitis}
$Species{Zorilla}
$Common_Name{Californian Skunk}
$Log{
Genus*00059.txt}

       Portions copyright (c) Creative Multimedia Corp., 1990-91, 1992

                       A U D U B O N ' S   M A M M A L S

                    By John James Audubon, F. R. S., &c. &c.

                                      AND

                     The Rev. John Bachman, D. D., &c. &c.

                  -------------------------------------------
                                   VOL.  III.
                        --------------------------------


                            MEPHITIS ZORILLA.--GMEL.


                               CALIFORNIAN SKUNK.


                                 (Not figured.)


     M. Fronte macula ovali alba insignita; macula alba ad tempus utrumque,
strigis quatuor albis, interruptis in dorso et lateribus, caudae apice albo.


                                  CHARACTERS.

     An oval spot of white on the forehead, and a large spot on each temple;
four interrupted white stripes on the sides and back; tail broadly tipped with
white.


                                   SYNONYMES.

     MEPHITIS ZORILLA.--Licht; Darstellung neue, oder wenig bekannter
       saugethiere, 1827-1834.  Berlin, tafel xlviii., fig. 2.
     LE ZORILLE.--Buffon, Hist. Nat., t. xiii., p. 302, table 41.
     MEPHITIS BI-COLOR.--Gray, London's Mag., vol. i., p. 581.
     MEPHITIS ZORILLA.--Illiger.


                                  DESCRIPTION.

     In form, this species may be said to be a small image of the Common Skunk
(M. Chinga).
     Head, short in proportion; ears broad, rounded, clothed with hair on both
surfaces; palms naked; nails short, grooved beneath, and slightly hooked;
whiskers short and scattering; fur soft, like that of the domestic cat, and
composed of two kinds of hair, the under hairs being soft and woolly, the others
longer, interspersed among them.  On the tail the hair is very coarse, and,
toward the extremity, rigid.


                                    COLOUR.

     There is a white patch on the forehead, and also between the eye and ear,
extending beneath the ear to the middle of the body; another white stripe rises
behind the ear, and runs parallel with the foregoing.  These stripes are not
quite uniform on each side; the body is spotted with white, forming three nearly
uniform bars across the back.  There are two white spots near the insertion of
the tail, on the sides and rump.  The white markings are set off by the colour
of the remaining portions of the body, being blackish brown, very dark on the
head and ears, a little lighter near the flanks.
     Tail brownish black, tip (for about three inches) white.


                                  DIMENSIONS.

                                                                   Inches.

     From point of nose to root of tail,.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  11 1/2
     Tail (vertebrae),.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .   6
     Tail (to end of hair), .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  10
     Shoulder to point of longest nail of fore-foot,.  .  .  .  .   5
     Height of ear (posteriorly), .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .     4/10


                                    HABITS.

     The habits of the present animal are only partially known; it is said to
retreat to holes in the earth, or live under roots of trees, in the crevices of
rocks, &c.  It feeds upon insects, birds, and the smaller quadrupeds.
     This Skunk, as we are moreover informed, is able to make itself so
offensive that few persons are disposed to approach or capture it, rather
keeping aloof, as from the Common Skunk of our Atlantic states, so well known
for its "perfume."


                           GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION.

     This species was found to be rather abundant, by J. W. AUDUBON and J. G.
BELL, in California; it was also found in Texas by the former.  DEPPE had
discovered it previously in California, in 1820, or thereabouts.


                                GENERAL REMARKS.

     The Zorilla was described by BUFFON (Hist. Nat., tom. xiii., p. 302) as a
species existing in South America; his figure, however, bore considerable
resemblance to an African species (Viverra Striata of SHAW).  Subsequently Baron
CUVIER bestowed great attention on this genus, and came to the conclusion that
all the American Skunks were mere varieties of each other.
     As far as the endless varieties of our Atlantic Species (M. Chinga) are
concerned, he was correct; but he was greatly in error in regarding the South
American, Mexican, and Californian Skunks as being all of one species, for they
differ greatly, not only in size, form, and internal organization, but also in
colour.
     Besides, many species of Mephitis present scarcely any variations in
colour.  The Mephitis Chinga seems to be like Lepus callotis, the Mexican hare,
and Lynx Rufus, the bay lynx, a species that may be regarded as an exception
rather than a type of the characteristic of the species.
     CUVIER came to the conclusion, whilst pursuing his investigations, that
BUFFON, in his Zorilla, had described the above named African species; but it
now appears that BUFFON was correct, that his specimen came from America, and
that the species is found within our limits, on the western coast:  therefore we
restore his specific name of Zorilla (Le Zorille) as a synonyme.