The striped skunk is an even-tempered animal. Its defensive fluid is discharged only when it is cornered or attacked. A trapped skunk rarely releases musk. A man, by speaking softly and moving slowly, can come within a distance of six feet of a trapped skunk. Experienced trappers utilize this fact to approach and shoot trapped skunks through the head or neck and so produce odorless furs. The skunk is potentially a source of considerable income to trappers in Washington. The value of their furs varies with the demand but large prime skins usually bring from $1 to $4. In eastern Washington, where trapping for coyotes and other terrestrial mammals is carried on, the skunks taken incidentally are an important source of revenue. In western Washington they are often abundant but are seldom trapped. The most sought pelts in western Washington are the mink, muskrat and raccoon; all semiaquatic species. Skunks are rarely taken in traps set for these mammals and few trappers bother to set overland trap lines for skunks. The young of the striped skunk usually number four to six. They are born in late May or early June in western Washington; possibly later in eastern Washington. =Mephitis mephitis hudsonica= Richardson _Mephitis americana_ var. _hudsonica_ Richardson, Fauna Boreali-Americana, 1:55, 1829. _Mephitis hudsonica_ Bangs, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 26:536, July 31, 1895. _Chincha hudsonica_ Howell, N. Amer. Fauna, 20:24, August 31, 1901. _Mephitis mephitis hudsonica_ Hall, Carnegie Inst. Washington, Publ. 473:65, November 20, 1936. _Type._--Obtained on the "plains of the Saskatchewan, Canada." _Racial characters._--Size moderate; stripes diverging anteriorly on back of neck; tail long with white stripe reaching well out, nearly to tip; zygomatic arches nearly parallel. _Measurements._--Howell (1901: 24) gives the average of 3 males from Saskatchewan, Montana and Wyoming, and of 3 females from Montana and Idaho, as, respectively: total length 726, 602; length of tail 268, 250; hind foot 82, 71. _Distribution_.--Northeastern Washington and the eastern edge of the northern Cascades, south probably to the Wenatchee Mountains. Recorded west to Oroville (W. W. D.) and Timentwa (W. W. D.) and south to Spokane (Taylor and Shaw, 1929: 12). =Mephitis mephitis major= (Howell) _Chincha occidentalis major_ Howell, N. Amer. Fauna, 20:37, August 31, 1901. _Mephitis mephitis major_ Hall, Univ. California Publ. Zoöl., 37:2, April 10, 1931. [Illustration: FIG. 65. Distribution of the striped skunk in Washington. A. _Mephitis mephitis hudsonica._ B. _Mephitis mephitis major._ C. _Mephitis mephitis notata._ D. _Mephitis mephitis spissigrada._]