26 FUR FACTS 



Muskrats, too, once held as an irrepressible pest, have proved 

 their worth as fur bearers and are in heavy demand and can be 

 increased rapidly. 



Your Friend, The Skunk 



Among the fur-bearing animals of the United States the skunk 

 is second in importance only to the muskrat. The animal's readiness 

 to accept almost any climatic condition and its easily satisfied appetite 

 has fostered its growth in every state in the Union. 



Skunk should be encouraged. Protection, does not mean merely 

 confining trapping to the open Season. This is not enough, this 

 valuable animal must be taught that man is not his enemy but his 

 friend. 



If the supply is to be increased, friendly measures must be practised. 

 With skunks, this is not difficult. They are never savage, cunning, 

 nor have they the instinctive hate for man possessed by many of 

 their larger brethren. Indeed, the skunk lends itself to domesti- 

 cation with great ease. 



The matter of making friends is up to the farmer, the woodman 

 and the trapper. It is no difficult task to improvise homes that will 

 be welcome to them, allow them to rove the fields unmolested during 

 the warmer months, feed them in case of heavy snows, and allow 

 them to raise their young untroubled, and in the end it will pay 

 enormously. 



Contrary to the belief of a few years ago, the skunk is the farmer's 

 friend. Investigation by scientists has shown that the animal's 

 principal food is insects that are injurious to plant life, among them 

 the wheat-head army worm, and the tobacco worm. Examination 

 of the stomachs of 62 skunks showed that a majority of them were 

 filled with grass-hoppers and predatory beetles enemies of agri- 

 culture. 



Further testimony in behalf of the skunk is contained in govern- 

 ment reports stating that poultry killings usually attributed to 

 skunks are in reality the work of weasels. Skunks do occasionally 

 raid a yard killing one fowl not half a dozen as the weasel does, 

 and they do nibble at garden truck. But even so they should not 

 be driven off; for the cost of their depredations is more than offset 

 by their own destruction of dangerous pests and counterbalanced 

 by the price their pelts will bring in the market. 



Outdoor men can help the skunk and themselves by heeding a 

 few simple suggestions. Encourage skunks to breed in the open 



