SKUNK 107 



spurs every hunter and trapper to his utmost effort, are the principal 

 reasons. Then coon hunters coming from the city with a pack of 

 hounds to hunt for sport, destroy a good many. In fact, they usually 

 get one coon and kill six or eight skimks. You can follow their trail by 

 the smell and the dead bodies of skunks which they have wantonly 

 destroyed. 



"Skunks can be raised as easily as house cats, provided you have 

 an enclosure where they cannot dig out or climb over. For every hun- 

 dred mature skunks, you should have an acre of ground enclosed. 



"I experimented for three years on a small scale. The first year, I 

 had one male and three females. They brought forth fifteen young. 

 One of the young ones died, leaving eighteen — eleven females and seven 

 males. Five of the yoimg graded as No. 2, the balance star black. 



"The second year, I started with twelve females and two males, 

 which brought forth forty-three young. Three of the young ones died, 

 so I had fifty-four in all — fourteen old ones and forty young ones. I 

 disposed of seventeen males and five No. 2 females, leaving a balance 

 of thirty-two black ones. 



"The third year the females had from three to six young. Unfor- 

 tunately, I could not attend them myself and had to entrust them to 

 a man who had no interest in them except the pay he received from me 

 for his work. About the first of August, the skunks dug a hole in the 

 pen and made their escape. That veritably settled my skunk-raising, 

 but, in the fall and winter, I do considerable night hunting with dogs, 

 which I have trained not to take hold of them. I catch them alive and 

 use the pen I have to keep them in until their fur is prime. In that 

 way I have live skunks from the first of November to about the first 

 of January." 



The following notes are summarized from the accounts of Ernest 

 Thompson Seton, who has kept these animals in captivity: 



Gestation is about six weeks. The young nm from 4 to 9 in a 

 litter. The young come out to eat when two months old and can be 

 admitted to the general run when four months old. They should be 

 fed heavUy in autumn in order to produce the fat on which they mostly 

 exist in winter. The colder the weather, the better the fur. Not more 

 than 50 or 60 can be kept on an acre. A diet of all meat will kill 

 every skunk. Feed once a day in the evening. If the bodies of the 

 skinned animals are fed, they should be thoroughly boiled with vege- 

 tables. The oil rendered from the skunk fat is valuable. 



The skunk is a burrowing animal and, therefore, like the 

 fox, requires a sunken fence around the enclosure in which 

 he is kept. Woven wire is best for a51 underground fences 



