The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1889-09-20
a NOVEL INDUSTRY.
FEED CLARKss SKUNK FARM IN
WESTERN NEW YORK.
Re Raises the Animals for Their
skins. Which lie Sells at a
Good Profit-His Mysterious
Power Over the SkunIzs.

The skunk farm Of Fred Clark IS about /
our miles from here on the other side of
be Genesee River, says the Mt. Morris /
3 y. correspondent Of the New York I
sun. Il is stocked with $50 slaunl1s. /
Sezt month, the breeding month Of |
hunks, ar. Clark expects that this mum
Der viii be increased to 1000 or more.
Mr. Clark began raising skunBs for the |
purpose Of selling their skins one year
igo last fall. lie selected a barren acre
II land On q steep hillside as a site for
ais farm. He surrounded this plot with /
! close board fence three feet high and
iet deep in a stone foundation, which
fSunls can neither undermine nor dig
through. he dug long, narrow holes
Into the side hill, followed out pit
about as big as half -biishel basket at the
gnd Of each hole, laid boards over the
pits and approaches, and then threw on
earth enough to prevent the penetration
q the cold in winner.
Then Dir. Clark caught his skunks.
lis neighbors had laughed at him a good
teal when he first told them of his plan
10 raise slzunks and sell their skins.
When be built his board fence and
hcueycombed his fathers side hill with
skunk nests they laughed harder, and told
ail the people at the old Pine Tavern
cross roads and at the Moscow corner
gFocery about foolish young Clark, who
hed spent SO much money laying out
skunk farm before he got his skunls.
They didn't know that Mr.. Clark was a
skunk tanner, and they thought he
couldn't catch his stock without an ex-
4 penence with skunk high jinks which
would sickcn him of the whole enterprise.
air- Clark went skunk hunting, never
sheless, with spade and two market
baskets. Whenever he found a wood
rhuck's hole which gave indications that
It contained sIzunl1s, he dug into It. He
found eighteen slzunizs on the first day Of
his hunt He picked them out Of their
holes BIZ the back, neck OF tail, Just as
they happened to come, and they never
objected. They were as docile as kit
tens Ia bis hands. After he had filed
both baskets with skunl1s, 8Ir. Clark
came upon two big black fellows, espe-
cially valuable for breeding purposes.
lie caught them, removed his coat and
tied q knot in the end of eachsleeve, and
tucked 2 skunk 10 through each armhole
When the neighbors saw him come home
at the end OF his first hunt with q basket
ful Of skunks on each arm, a coatful Of
slzunks thrown over his shoulder, and
smelling only Of the pines and hemlocl1s
they stopped laughing at him and his
stock farm.
1Ir- Ciark's novel business has pros
pcred- Last Nay twenty black she
sionks On his farm bore and reared
40 little slunks. 1Ir. Clark then
killed of about thirty head Of his old
stock and sold the skins to buyers for
New York fur dealers for $50. For the
sal-hlaok skins the buyers pay S1.50
Zen; for haf-striped skin, 81; for q
full striped IS cents; for a white skunk
ska only p or 80 cents. Since last
May Mr.. Clark has been killing of his
striped and white skunIs. He has
secured the woods along the Genesee J
River for the finest black he skunks and
has caught some twenty OF more of
them. coal black and as large as tom
rats. He thinks he has IN them a guar
antee Of the blacllness OF the 500 or
more little skunks which he expects |
next month
The eoasCSi ssfsi-ss5, sl.-.s.ia-a, a0co1za.sny'-
20 1ir. Clark's experience, is almost
nothing. Young ones ne feeds on
Skinned OF sour milk, blighted sweet
corn, small pumpkins and frost-bitten
melons. The old ones get a diet less
rhoi7e. Whichever a horse, COW, sheep
Of hog IN the neighboThood, dies Of dis
csc. the carcass Is carted to Mr.. Clark's
sklhk farm. The sLzunks make short
work Of the meat. In day or two
taey strip OF the hide, tear the flesh 1
from the ribs and begin gorging them
selves with the entrails. They stuff them
selves day and night until they can hard /
81 crawl back to their holes. They then /
roll themselves together, often fifteen OF
sixteen Of them IN one Of the nests hard /
" tiehtesn inches IN diameter, and sleep 4
Tor weeks This last winter Mr. Clark's
80 shunks have eaten only a horse,
q calf and a sheep. All told, 3lr.
Ciarll has not spent SO in feeding his
skunks since he stocked his farm, al
most two years ago.
4 Sr1 correspondent found Mr. Clark
sitting OF the fence which encloses his
farm Mr. Clark IS a well-lnit, intelli-
gent looking Young man Of some thirty
yess. he has soft, sleepy eyes, and
moves his hands in lazy, easy fashion,
when handling skunizs. He couldn'ttelI
why sErilks treated him more consider
rely than they treated other people, but
EaS ready to prove they did. He took
tie CORE pendent down the hillside to the
fkeiet0n Of o horse at which thirty skunks
were tagging for dear life. They paid lit
ae attention 70 his approach, save that
ihi,y caatteTed q little louder NJ. Clark
grabbed g half striped skunk by the nape
q the neck, lifted him up, patted him,
and poksd him in the RIBS. The skunk
siiIied up his back feet, wagged his tail
haznleszly, and looked happy Then Dir.
LARK dropped him 20 pick up a big
bleeE skunk. BE treated the black skunk
Just SO he bad treated the half STRIPED
one, 2ndthe black skunk took TO It as
ldndly as 4 had been q pet cat. Then
a-A- INK 5Dnl4ru- lea1eQ, anu pusleu
about dozen or more other sh1unls. All
Of them seemed to think It all great fun,
and cspers5 about like lot Of kittens.
sIt's a knacz. ] suppose 7 got It by
practice, explained Mr. Clark, as he
kicked away a skunk which was trying to
chew the top Of bis boot. ssWhen L
BEGAN catehing skunks years ago I got
scented every time. Sometimes I'd get
such a dose that / would be stone blind
for tnree OF four days. But didn't mind
TIA. much, as could always get the
moacy warted for parties and 9Th Of
July ceiebratloas quickest by selling
skunk skins
Alr. Clark Is altogether quite proud Of
It's local reputation as a skunk tanner.
Re has had a photographer take a big
picture Of him surrounded by sixty or
niofc Of his finest slzunks- Copies Of this
picture, exhibited in several towns Of
Mr., Clark's county, have given him con ]
siderable notorietv as the pioneer skunk