SKUNK BREEDING 



American Mammal Gaining Recognition as a Valuable Friend of the Farmer and a 



Producer of Desirable Fur More Than SCO Skunk Faim.s New 



in Operation — Several Mutations Found 



Hi:RliT()FORl£ usually rcKarded 

 as a noxious pest , a destroyer of 

 birds and their e^'jj;s, as well 

 as the agent of frec^uent depre- 

 dations on the farmer's hen roost, the 

 skunk is now bein<:; recognized as one 

 of man's valuable allies, not only as a 

 relentless destroyer of farm ]3ests, but 

 also because of his increasing value as a 

 fur i)roducer. His worth in the fur 

 market is a recent dex'clojjment, but 

 already more than five hundred i)eople 

 in various parts of the United States 

 are engaged in breeding skunks, either 

 selling the pelts to furriers or disposing 

 of the live animals to others who seek 

 to start fur farms. 



More than a dozen States ha\'e 

 already ])assed laws protecting the 

 skunks and probably, as the unusual 

 economic value of the animal becomes 

 better understood, similar laws will be 

 passed in every State, affording fuller 

 protection to one of the fanner's best 

 friends, and one of the most valuable of 

 American fur bearers. The muskrat, 

 mink and skunk are the only three fur- 

 bearing animals which are still fairly 

 abundant in the United States, and of 

 these the mink is already in danger of 

 extinction, due to the fact that it 

 breeds but once a year and has been 

 thinned out greatly by close trapping. 

 Skunks are divided into two general 

 classes, the spotted and the stri])ed, 

 by those raising them for fur. Zoolog- 

 ically, many species, subspecies and 

 races are named, but since the breeders 

 recognize two classes in their work and 

 cross their animals freely without regard 

 to scientific technicalities, the commer- 

 cial classification will be sufTlcient for 

 this note. The spotted skunk is gen- 

 erally too small for profitable fur breed- 

 ing, and due to the jjeculiar coloratioii, 

 its jjelt is not so highly i)rized as that 

 of the striped skunk. When the pelt 

 of the sjjotted skunk is placed f)n the 



452 



market, it is generally called "civet" 

 and under this name it has enjoyed a 

 decided vogue for the past few }-ears. 

 In spite of the jjopularity of "civet," 

 however, the striped skunk is still the 

 one most sought for commercial pur- 

 poses, the value of the pelt dejDending 

 on the amount of black it contains. A 

 l)ure black pelt is worth about SIO 

 on the i)resent market, the color of the 

 skins thence ranging thrcugh the inter- 

 mediate splotchings to pure white. 

 Ordinar\' skins are worth from S3 to 

 S6 a])iece when raw. 



COLOR INHERTTANCE 



J. A. Detlefsen of the department cf 

 genetics. University of Illinois, has 

 found a number of mutations which 

 are valuable for their tyjK's of fur, and 

 is breeding these and making a study of 

 color inheritance in the skunk. It 

 seems probable that skunk l)recding 

 will eventually be carried out in a 

 much more scientific fashion than it is 

 now, for some breeders state that 

 already they have been able, by several 

 generations of careful selection, to pro- 

 duce ]jure black animals which a])pear 

 to breed true to type. 



The most objectionable feature of the 

 skunk as a pet has been its overj^owering 

 scent, with which every country-dweller 

 is familiar. The scent is ejected from 

 two oval sacs located beneath the skin 

 just below the tail, which are covered 

 with such i^owcrful muscular tissue that 

 a vigorous skunk has been known to 

 eject the fluid as far as 15 feet, although 

 6 to 10 feet is a more common distance. 

 It is often practically im])ossible to 

 remove the odor, es])ecially from the 

 clothing, although gasoline is of value 

 as a deodorant, while chloride of lime 

 likewise works very effectually. 



Most skunk l)reeders remove the 

 scent glands when the skunk is quite 

 young by a simple oi)cration which is 



