16 



farmers' bulletin 587. 



i 



a 



Many trappers use a tight box trap for taking skunks. When one 

 is caught the box is carefully lifted and carried to water deep enough 

 to cover it. If no water is available to drown the animal, it may be 

 killed in the box by carbon bisulphid or chloroform. 



RAISING SKUNKS FOR THEIR FUR. 



Although skunks were often tamed and kept as pets or for destroy- 

 ing rats and mice, no attempt to raise them for their fur seems to have 

 been made until within the past 30 years. About 

 1885-86 there was a large foreign demand for 

 the pelts and close trapping had led to a 

 scarcity of black skunks. The feasibility of de- 

 veloping a strain of black animals by selective 

 breeding came under consideration and many 

 experiments in skunk farming were undertaken. 

 Falling prices and other hindrances soon caused 

 breeders to abandon their attempts. One firm 

 in Pennsylvania claimed to have spent $25,000 

 in lands and equipment in an unsuccessful ven- 

 ture in skunk raising. 



The high prices that have prevailed in the 

 past few years have led to renewed discussion 

 of the subject of skunk raising, and at present 

 not a few persons are endeavoring to produce 

 this fur in captivity. While some breeders have 

 encountered difficulties, others have been quite 

 successful. On the whole, there are excellent 

 reasons for believing that a profitable industry 

 may be developed. Skunks are less wild than 

 ^xi&ffi d most of the musteline family, and their miscel- 



laneous diet permits a good deal of latitude in 

 feeding, whereas the marten and the mink re- 

 quire a diet almost exclusively of meat. The 



problem of providing pens is also less compli- 

 bottom of cated in the cage of the gkunk The odor of the 



skunk may be entirely disregarded; but if the 

 breeder prefers to do so, he may remove the scent glands and have his 

 animals as harmless as cats. The popular belief that hydrophobia 

 will result from a skunk bite is an error. There is no more danger 

 from this source than there is in handling cats or dogs. 



Fig. 4. — Section of fence for 

 skunk enclosure, a, Post 7 

 feet long; 6, surface of ground; 

 c, extension of post (2 x 4) 

 to support netting or barbed 

 wire strands; d, 

 trench. 



INCLOSURES AND DENS. 



The skunk inclosure should occupy a well-drained, sandy hillside, 

 partly shaded by trees, and partly open land, with grasses. An acre 

 will afford room for about 50 adult skunks. It is desirable, but 



