86 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATIO N 



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 Hunier-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 ISTos. 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 i/^-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 Idll 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- 

 rapped 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, com and various other things 

 which a n.an with a small lot cannot always have. If not fed properly 

 they become cannibalistic. 



" Like every other business, skunk-raising requires capital ; and 

 with some one who has capital, together with the experience and prac- 

 tical knowledge, I venture to say that there is 50 to 100 per cent, profit 



