18 



farmers' bulletin 587. 



two or three months at a time, cheap boxes with wooden floors will 

 serve every purpose, but they must be dry inside. It will be advan- 

 tageous to have each breeding den placed within a small run where 

 the young skunks can exercise after they are large enough to leave 

 the nest. This arrangement should entirely remove the danger of 

 cannibalism in the skunk yard. 



The general skunk inclosure and its main subdivisions should be 

 provided with a sufficient number of dens to prevent overcrowding 

 the animals. While in winter a number of skunks will den up to- 

 gether, they should not be compelled to do so at other times. The 

 dens may consist of hollow logs, trenches covered with boards and 

 earth, or artificial burrows bored in a sloping bank by means of a 

 post auger. The skunks will enlarge these burrows to suit their 

 needs. The chief requirement for all dens is that they shall be dry 

 inside. Contact with the soil, unless it is wet, improves the fur. 



FOODS AND FEEDING. 



Skunks in captivity eat a great variety of foods, including meat, 

 fish, insects, bread, cooked and even raw vegetables, and ripe fruits. 

 Table scraps will keep the animals in good condition, but occasional 

 meals wholly of raw meat are desirable. The meat should not be 

 putrid nor very salty. More of it should be fed in the spring, for it 

 is lack of meat diet that causes old skunks to eat the young. 



Food for a large skunk ranch may often be procured from hotels 

 or restaurants, when usually it will cost nothing but the labor of re- 

 moving it. Arrangements may also be made with butchers for ob- 

 taining waste meat at low cost. If the ranch is favorably located, a 

 supplemental diet of insects will be naturally available within the 

 inclosure. 



Cakes and mush made from cornmeal and bits of meat are excellent 

 foods for skunks. If fresh milk is available, it may be made an im- 

 portant item in the diet. Cooked green corn and hominy also are 

 recommended. 



No more food should be given than will be eaten clean during the 

 night. It is a mistake to place a dead animal inside the inclosure to 

 provide food for a long time, or to give the animals occasionally a 

 large supply of offal from a slaughterhouse and expect them to thrive 

 and produce fine fur. But little more than the amount of food re- 

 quired for a cat will supply the w T ants of a skunk. The animals 

 should be fed once or twice a day ; if fed but once, it should be in the 

 evening. Females with young should always be fed twice a day. 

 Good fresh drinking w T ater should be regularly provided, and vessels 

 used for food or w^ater should be kept clean. 



BREEDING. 



While skunks usually breed but once a year in captivity, occa- 

 sionally a second litter is produced. One male should be kept for 



