136 THE FUR TRADE OF AMERICA 



patches of white just behind the neck, a bushy tail from 12 inches 

 to 18 inches long, a sharp nose, a little round body, prone sharp- 

 nosed head and claws like knives. In science, the skunk is a weasel. 

 In life, he is a relative of Cain, an outcast and pariah. 



In the trade, skunks are graded first according to the white 

 on his pelt. In grade II, the white stripe comes to the shoulders. 

 In grade III, the long narrow stripe goes down the back. In grade 

 IV, the white stripe is broad. The next grade is as to quality of 

 fur and habitat ; and it is a queer freak of nature that few skunks 

 come from two of the best fur regions in America, where food is 

 abundant — Alaska and Labrador. The next grading is as to large, 

 medium, small. The highest grade pelt would run 1 foot to 18 

 inches long, with a bushy tail as long as the body. 



The little spotted skunk is known as "the civet" and of this 

 there are fourteen species. 



Skunks do not readily climb trees, but they can. They do not 

 swim, but are the prize burrowers next to badger and woodchuck, 

 whose homes they often preempt. Leaves and grass line the nests, 

 and the burrows always have two entrances, which places the skunk^ 

 somewhat in the class of the beaver for craft against foes. They 

 undoubtedly know their own great power of self-defence; for I 

 have been compelled to drive two miles behind a skunk on a wood- 

 land road for the simple reason, when I came within a rod of him, 

 his tail went up and my horse refused to pass him. The spray 

 emitted by the skunk will blind an enemy, like the fluid from the 

 devil fish ; and having sprayed his enemy, the skunk scuttles under 

 cloud of the stench he has created. 



In the old days, the price ran in London from 7 shillings to 10 

 shillings, and at that price, from 19,000 to 20,000 sold a year. To- 

 day, 2,000,000 skunk a year sell in London, though I am inclined 

 to think these figures include the fitch, or polecat, of Europe, a 

 smaller animal by at least six to eight inches. Skunk pelts in the 

 1920 American sales ran from #5.90 to #9.20 in New York, fitch from 

 I2jj to $3.50. 



