86 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 
after mating and while rearing the young. A wide range is necessary in 
order to permit of their securing a variety of natural food. . 
The methods used in skunk-raising are completely outlined in 
the following extracts from letters written to the Hunter-Trader-Trap- 
per Magazine by Mr. Brae: 
SKUNK-RAISING 
“Skunk-raising is a failure if on a small scale, while on a large 
scale it would be a paying business, giving from 50 to 100 per cent. 
profit. I will give you my experience on a small scale. The first season 
I had 12 females and 3 males, all black; the average litter of young 
was from 3 to 6; the average grade, about 85 per cent. black, the bal- 
ance being Nos. 2, 3 and 4. 
“Naturally, skunks live in holes in the ground, rocks, trees, stumps, 
etc. Their food consists of mice, birds, bugs, crickets, grasshoppers, 
bees, wasps, yellow jackets, angle worms, seeds, berries, ground roots 
and bark. My pen was 14 feet by 36 feet, and 4 feet high with 4-inch 
mesh wire floor and 1-inch mesh wire top and covering. I had a num- 
ber of boxes for harbours. My pen is secure against escape but entirely 
too small for the purpose intended. 
“In the first place, I wish to discuss the disadvantages of start- 
ing on a small scale. Having a large number in a small place, will 
cause them to crowd and fight and kill one another, while to have a 
separate pen for each female is expensive. After the rutting season the 
female will kill the male, apparently to protect her young. Skunks are 
liable to a fatal disease, similar to sore throat or diphtheria. I have 
known females that had no young ones to take the young of other 
mothers to their boxes and fight the real mothers away until the kid- 
napped young starved to death. Others that had young would steal the 
young of two or three others and then, having more than they could 
care for, some would starve. 
“Another disadvantage in a small enclosure is this, that they get 
so tame they come out in the daytime to feed and the exposure to 
sunlight fades the fur to a certain extent. As it is also almost impossible 
to supply a lot of skunks with the kind of food they get in the wild 
state, it becomes necessary to substitute some other kind of food, 
such as dead horses, cows, chickens, corn and various other things 
which a man with a small lot cannot always have. If not fed properly 
they become cannibalistic. 
“Like every other business, skunk-aising requires capital; and 
with some one who has capital, together with the experience and prac- 
tical knowledge, I venture to say there is 50 to 100 per cent. profit 
