The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-03-05
THE SLANDERED SKUNK.
GOOD TO EAT, TO WEAR, TO LOOK
AT AND TO CATCH MICE.
A Kentucky Trapper Who Knows the
Malignant American - Tricks and
Traits of the Animal-Mme. Mephitis
and Little Ones.

Malignant American - Tricks and
Traits of the Animal-Mme. Mephitis
and Little Ones.
From the Net0 York Sun.
NEWPORT, KY. Feb. 23,-"For three
nights, hand running, set a No. , steel
trap for fox, and every night 1 caught
only skunk's leg.
Eyes, sir, a skunk's leg. In the snow all
around where the trap was set there was
plenty of fox sign; but when came to pick
up my trap in the morning for the three
mornings hand running that was all there
was for me-the fox tail in the snow and
the skunk's leg in the trap. The bait was
gone and the fox was gone. The thing
stumped me- If that fox had brains
enough to spring the trap with a skunk's
leg, why didn't he have gumption enough to
do it with stickl The trap would spring
on a laurel branch just as quick as it would
on a skunk'S leg and laurel was plenty all
around there. while skunks' legs struck me
as being mighty blame scarce"
With $37 in his pocket, the product of his
two months take of skins, Mr.. JabeZ Hull,
farmer and trapper from Carter county, sat
in the barroom of Hermau's Hotel this
morning, smoking Wheeling stogie and
trying his level best to get his ease out of
his inn
1T was along toward the end of April, in
the full of the moon," he went on, ''and the
thing puzzled me so that | Topped out
seat on the middle branch of scrub pine,
and at dusk the next night, after setting
my trap under the pine, l took up a little
corn bread and whisky and went on watch.
That was how | came to make a speciality
of skunkS. | found out something about
their habits that night, and that skunkS are
good.
Il had been setting there about an hour,
and was so busy Watching the moon roll up
over Dukes Knob, and shine down on the
white country where | was, that | hadn't
no time to fee cold. Now and then an owl
would flap through the pine scrub, and |
was Just Scooping my ear over toward
Jackson's woods, where L thought heard
catamount yell, when | saw something
crawling along the snow down by the
creek. l looked close, and blame me if it
WASH short, stripd she skunk, with seven
little ones fOllering after her like
kittens after their dam. That
was just what they looked like, seven
little black and white kittens run
ming along, with their tails up, after the
old one. The skunk's head is more pointed
than cats, more like weasels, and unless
it's body is plain black or plain white it is
bound to be striped lengthways from neck
to tail The tail is bushy, covered with
long hair, and VIXEN it is carried in the air
the long hairs float downward like the
plume on a circus horse. There are not
many pure white skunks in the South and
not great many pure black ones but they
run much blaCkgr than the Northern skunk,
and, although the Southern skunk is smaller
than that OF the North, the difference in
color more than makes up for the difference
th.av
For pure black pelt | get 81; for short
stripe, which means skunk with much
black in biD, get 30c. for a log stripe,
from 80 to &C.,, and for a white, not more
than zoe.
at makes beautiful fur, known among
buyers as the Alaska sable or the Chinese
mink, and barrel of them in the raw are
not Whit worse than a barrel Of mink on
muslsrat. The furrier's treatment takes
away the scent just as easy as it does from
the mink skin, and you take my word for
it The raw sealslnn is just as offensive as the
raw skunk skin. The skunk lis a clean ami
NAL, and good animal. He is good to eat
and-but I'm getting ahead OF my story.
"Well, sir, the little family came skipping
along over the snow toward my trap, with
the old lady good length in the lead. The
trap was set and covered with az light
sprinkl!ug of snow, and all around it had
sprinllled chickens head, part of the legs,
and the gizzard and tixings of the same
fowl | was afraid the old lady would
spring my trap, and if she did there would
be no use looking for the fox with his skunk's
leg that night. | had my rifle with me, but
l darsent shoot for the noise While |
was worrying and wondering what better
do, flap, flap, came big horned o2l out of
persimmon tree on the creeks back, and
swoop he went down among the seven little
ones, and when he went up again there was
only six-he carried the other with him
But he did not get off scott free. At the
first flap mother skunk was back with her
family. She only knew one way of fight
ing, aud when the owl came to the ground
she struck him. | could see him stagger
for minute, and ! thought he
would fall; but away he went with
the little one in his beak, fv
in a laundering way as though he was
blind. Its many and many dog that |
have seen blinded in the same way, and I'll
bet hog against peck of hazel nuts that
was the dearest supper that owl ever eat.
When she saw the little one was gone for
good, old lady skunk started back home ON
dog trot, and you better believe she was
careful TO keep the whole family right by
her until she was out of sight. That was
the first time / ever see any little ones whom
there was snow on the ground. They gen
| orally are born in May, and from half
dozen to ten in litter.
AT about 10 o'clock red fox trotted out
Of bunch Of black paw bushes, and, with
his tail laid along his back, he made bee
line for my chicken filings | couldn't see
no skunk's leg about him anywhere, but |
watched him mighty close all the same lust
to see hat he would do, because that was
what was there for. He stopped at one
of my boot tracks in the snow, about foot
away from the nearest piece of meat and
from that he circled all around the bait and
the trap. He went around it
twice, and then logged off to
to bunch Of laurel in the shade
of a pine about ten yards from the trap,
where he laid himself down and went on
watch, same as / was. he hid himself
among the laurel leaves so that could see
nothing of him but now and then his eyes,
when he would turn his head so that the
/ moon would shine on them | was so busy
watching him that did not see what was
I going on directly under me until | heard
the snap of my trap From the air that
came up TO ms ] knew it was skunk be-
fore looked down, and sure enough, there
it was, big, long stripe fast by the right
| foreleg.
1.-The fox seemed TO know that his bust
ness was done, because he came out from his
hole as soon as the trap snapped, and with
out waiting for anything he trotted down
and began to tear at the chickens head He
was careful TO keep out Of the range Of tho
skunk, and every now and then he would
Il H.. IL. 4. Il, h.