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RECREATION. 



Is there much odor if skunks are prop- 

 erly handled? 



What is skunk oil worth? 



Will skunks swim? 



I have an island in a lake. Can I let the 

 skunks run at large on this island in sum- 

 mer? 



Should I build a pen and put boxes in 

 the ground for them to live in in winter? 



Is it necessary to feed in winter? 



Do you consider skunk farming a profit- 

 able business ? 



We have lots of wild skunks, and I 

 can get all I want for $i each. Should 

 I pick black skunks for breeders ? ' 



Will they run to black if I start with 

 black ones. Would you advise taking 

 scent sack from young? 



Will it be safe to keep ioo females to- 

 gether ? 



What is your method of killing when 

 wanted for hides ? 



Would you advise me to give up a $50 

 position and go into the business? I have 

 plenty of land and feed, such as slaughter 

 house refuse. Is it necessary for the 

 skunks to have vegetables and cornmeal? 

 L. F. Judkins, Fife Lake, Mich. 



ANSWER. 



Your questions have nearly all been fully 

 answered in at least 2 issues of Recrea- 

 tion, but as the subject is an important 

 one and the business profitable, your in- 

 quiries deserve further answer. 



I have been successful in raising skunks 

 in confinement, and I treat them as I 

 would tame cats or poultry. 



Skunks should do well on an island 

 where vegetation is abundant in summer, 

 and where they could be got at and 

 fed readily in winter. If the water 

 freezes, however, they could escape in win- 

 ter. They will not take to water voluntarily 

 in summer. They grow tame quickly and 

 give no odor unless startled or attacked. 



If they are exposed to fright or to any in- 

 terruption, they should be doubled yarded ; 

 that is, a yard of poultry netting to keep 

 them in, and another about 10 feet without, 

 to keep dogs, people and other animals 

 away. 



Your best plan would be to fix up some- 

 thing on a small scale, near your house, as 

 though you were going to keep poultry, and 

 content yourself with, say 50 females and 

 2 to 5 good males. On no account should 

 you give up your $50 job, but stick to 

 that and crowd in the skunk experiment 

 until you find whether you succeed. If 

 you do, then go ahead or quit. 



Raising skunks is like raising hogs. 

 There is too often a meaningless disgust 

 and contempt for the business. Hardly 

 one of my neighbors has any luck with 

 brood sows, or likes them ; but I have 20 

 sows that do wonders, and 'that are actually 

 admired. So with the raising of skunks. 



Vegetables, stale fish, poultry that dies 

 and garbage are best for them. They do 

 not need any kind of grain. Slaughter- 

 house refuse I know nothing about, but if 

 the skunks were fed wholly or largely on 

 it it would probably bring on paralysis or 

 other diseases. 



In captivity several litters, of 4 to 6 

 each, can be produced each year. 



Endeavor to have them full grown and 

 mature to kill during January and Febru- 

 ary, for the fur is then at its best. Be- 

 fore January it is liable to be "hairy," and 

 after February it loses lustre and fineness 

 and becomes dead and woolly. To kill 

 them, catch in any simple box trap and 

 drop trap in water barrel. Do not kill by 

 poisoning, for, while quick and handy, 

 it destroys the lustre of the fur and its 

 durability. 



Skunk oil, if made with reasonable skill, 

 sells readily at good prices, at any drug 

 store, and is a safe and valuable remedy for 

 many ailments, especially rheumatism and 

 anything benefited by liniments or oint- 

 ments. Ramsay Macnaughton, 



Pittsfield, Mass. 



In answer to Mr. Hoopes' questions re- 

 garding skunks : The male skunk, like 

 the tomcat, will kill the young kits, but 

 Mr. Hoopes can safely let the males and 

 females run together before the young are 

 born, or after they are large enough to 

 protect themselves. I advise him to leave 

 them together all winter. They will 



choose their own breeding season, which 

 in their wild state is in the late winter, 

 about the time the snow commences to 

 go off. 



They average in the wild state about 4 

 or 5 females to one male, and bear about 

 an average of 8 young to each female, ac- 

 cording to the age of. the mother. They 

 will eat almost anything and live in the 

 winter often on old dead horses, etc. 



After snow comes watch for soft nights, 

 for then is when they run. In the morn- 

 ing track them to their holes and either 

 dig them out and catch them with a net 

 on the end of a pole, *or set a common 

 box trap made of a light barrel. Make ar- 

 rangements for 3 or 4 skunks, as there are 

 often that many in a hole in the breeding 

 season. 



Balance the trap across a stick or log 

 so the skunk can walk in the open end, but 

 when he gets back to the bait it will tip up 

 with him and stand on end. Or catch the 

 skunk with a steel trap. 



There need be .no smell connected with 

 your skunk farm. Skunks are easily 

 tamed and only use their scent bag in 

 self defense. If they are not frightened 

 or huft they may be handled freely with- 

 out annoyance or danger. It is claimed 

 their bite will cause rabies, and I do not 



