ECONOMIC VALUE OF NORTH AMERICAN SKUNKS. 



17 



not necessary, to have running water inside the inclosure. A 3-foot 

 fence made of poultry netting and having an overhanging barrier at 

 the top is sufficient to confine the animals. The barrier is needed, 

 since the netting might serve as a ladder over which the skunks could 

 climb. The netting should be of 1-inch mesh, as young skunks have 

 been known to escape through meshes of 1 J inches. The wire should 

 be of No. 16 gauge. 



This low fence, however, is not sufficient to keep out dogs or other 

 intruders, unless the overhang is very wide and extends on both sides. 

 Many breeders prefer a tight fence of boards or sheet iron or even a 

 stone wall. A 4-foot fence of stout planks supplemented by a 3-foot 

 netting or several 

 strands of barbed 

 wire above is recom- 

 mended, as it may be 

 made proof against 

 the entrance of rats, 

 and no overhang will 

 be needed (fig. 4). 



To prevent the 

 skunks from digging 

 out under the fence it 

 should penetrate the 

 ground to a depth of 

 2 or 3 feet. A layer 

 of flat stones along 

 the bottom of the 

 trench on the inside is 

 an additional precau- 

 tion (fig. 5). Turn- 

 ing the netting in at 

 the bottom is still another method of preventing escape. Unless the 

 soil is loose skunks do little digging, but they have been known to dig 

 under 3-foot walls. 



Strong posts of good lumber are needed for outside fencing. They 

 should be set at intervals of about 10 feet and should be well braced 

 at corners. The overhang may be a wide horizontal board nailed to 

 crosspieces at the tops of the posts, or it may be a strip of wire net- 

 ting, sheet iron, or sheet tin a foot wide attached to wooden brackets 

 or crossbars on the posts. 



The skunk inclosure should be divided into smaller yards, the 

 division fences being 3 or 4 feet high and made of netting (1^-inch 

 mesh) or of sheet iron. The compartments are convenient to separate 

 different classes of animals, as males or skunks just weaned. Besides 

 the general inclosure and its main divisions a separate breeding pen 

 for each female should be provided. As these are to be used for only 



