The Fur Animals of Louisiana 



397 



I. 1 



X 



Four grades of skunk pelts. On the left is a black skin, showing very little white; 

 next is the so-called "star" pelt, then a narrow stripe and, on the right, a broad-stripe. 

 In the market the more black on a skunk pelt the more money it will earn the trapper. 



side of the back, while a "short stripe" skin is one in which 

 the narrow white markings do not extend the full length of 

 the animal's body. These two skunk skins grade between 

 the blacks and the broad-stripes. 



Formerly a skunk skin was graded down according to 

 the amount of white hair the animal developed, as the 

 white parts were cut out by the furrier in fashioning a 

 garment and only the black hairs and furs used. When 

 cutting was resorted to, the whole skin was dyed black, 

 but this robbed the fur of its chief beauty, a rich, glossy, 

 alive black. Of late years the use of the whole skunk skin 

 with white as well as black pelage for collars, flounces, 



