518 
out as yielding most skunks. These are 
rolling and brushy. An area in the south 
central part of Illinois, another around 
ele g\e\2% 
° 
ee le 
o epee’ 
=~ 
Fig. 9.—Distribution of skunks in Illinois 
as indicated by fur-takers’ monthly reports for 
the seasons of 1929-30, 1930-31 and 1934-35 
through 1939-40. Data from these eight sea- 
sons of monthly reports have been transferred 
to the map in such a way that the county hav- 
ing the largest average catch per fur-taker 
has the greatest density of dots; other coun- 
ties are dotted proportionally. The numbers 
in the margins represent for each county indi- 
cated the average catch per square mile as 
revealed by Brown’s survey for the 1938-39 
and 1939-40 seasons. In general, a close cor- 
relation exists between the two sets of data, 
despite the fact that one is for eight seasons 
and the other for two. 
Springfield and a third around Cook 
County show yields of the smallest num- 
bers. 
Among those counties that were sur- 
veyed by Brown, Franklin shows the 
smallest yield per square mile, and Union, 
Jo Daviess and Calhoun counties the 
largest. The yield in Union County was 
13 times as large as the yield in Franklin 
County. 
Trappers, Catch and Income.—In- 
ILLINnoIs NATURAL History SURVEY BULLETIN 
annual 
Vol. 22, Arti Df 
dex figures for per cent of fur-takers 
catching skunks show a general decline, 
table 5. The index figure is 55 for 1929- 
30 and 44 for 1941-42, but in intervening 
years figures as high as 59 and 64 are 
recorded. ° 7 
The average catch indices also decline; 
from 5.9 during the 1934-35 season, the 
trend is downward, with some irregulari- 
ties, to 3.1 during the 1941-42 season, 
table 5. 
For 1938-39 and 1939-40, index figures 
for per cent of fur-takers catching skunks 
are the same as, to 8 points higher than, 
corresponding figures calculated from data 
accumulated during the course of the oral 
survey. [he average-catch-per-effective- 
fur-taker indices are from 0.1 to 0.5 point 
higher than the average catch per fur- 
taker calculated from the oral survey data, 
the average difference being 0.3. 
If the differences and similarities be- 
tween monthly report index figures and 
figures calculated from oral survey data 
obtain for years of this study previous to 
1938-39, then we may assume that approx- 
imately 13,000 fur-takers caught skunks 
annually ; the number is calculated to have 
been about 18,000 in 1930-31 and about 
12,000 during the 1938-39 season. The 
average annual catch of skunks was about 
58,000, having dropped from about 80,000 
in 1929-30 to a calculated 36,681 in 1939- 
40, but with higher figures in some of the 
intervening years. The calculated average 
income from skunks was about 
$70,000. Averages are for the seasons of 
this study ending with 1939-40. 
These averages are equivalent to about 
1 skunk hunter or trapper per 4.3 square 
miles, or roughly 130 per county; some- 
what more than 1 skunk per square mile, 
or roughly 580 per county; about $700.00 
per county, or about $1.25 per square 
mile. 
OPOSSUM 
Distribution.—In Illinois, possums are 
most common in the southern part of the 
state, particularly in those counties lying 
along the Mississippi and the Ohio rivers, 
as shown by the density of stippling in 
fig. 10, which is based on monthly report’ 
data for the average bag per fur-taker. 
They are least common in the prairie 
region centering on Livingston County. 
