The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1892-06-02
"a ssks,.c,..
SeRRh% CaROEN
aIJsS'1ib,s 49,
4 pleh FoR THE SKUNK.

By RIGHT Of Its Good Works This AMI
nal Claims The Farmers Protection.
The skunk is in bad odor with the
world at large, and yet every farmers
boy knows the commercial value Of It's
soft fur; value Of sufficient cousidera-
ton to have created special and remu-
nerative industry known as skunk
farming" This industry consists in
breeding these little animals for their
pelts alone. But these furry pelts, ac-
CUrGiHg to Obscrvaut farmers, are of
small importance compared with the
good work wrough, on the farm by the
live animals. Here is what II Michigan
farmer had TO say recently in The Rural
New Yorker on the subject:
Were potatoes SO badly grub eaten
twenty-five years ago as they are at the
present time? According to my memory
they were not. Neither was bounty
offered on woodchucks in those days,
nor was there one rabbit where there are
ten now. In my opinion, if these were
not killed off with shotguns, hounds and
ferrets, they would in FIVE years become
about as great a pest in Michigan as they
are at present in Australia. Why? Be-
cause their natural enemies are so few.
The skunk is nearly exterminated for his
fur, while there are literally no hawks,
owls, minis, weasels, etc. ! remember
counting twenty-five skunk tracks that
crossed the road one night after a light
fall of snow in going about half mile
to school. The skunk enters the holes
of chucks and kills and eats the young,
and in his nocturnal wanderings finds
the nests of young rabbits, destroys them
and also any amount Of bumblebee nests
for the honey.
The white grub is think the worst of
all pests at present, and is increasing in
sandy and loamy soils, and works on
nearly everything the farmer raises.
Some wheat fields have been entirely
destroyed by the pests, but their worst
havoc is in potatoes corn and all kinds
| of roots, Strawberries, raspberries and
the grasses. Out of 800 bushels of my
own potatoes last season at least one
third have been rendered unmarketable
on account of the grubworlns, and
about the same proportion of my corn,
and in 1890 five acres of corn were de-
stroyed by their eating off the roots,
hundreds of hills not reaching height
of eighteen inches. By digging into
these hills could get from one to half
a dozen grubs to the hill. Besides, have
lost hundreds Of raspberry and black
berry plants by their eating the bark
from the roots. The damage done by
these pests every year amounts to mil
lions of dollars in Michigan alone, and
it has long been known that the skunk
is the most common enemy of the nui
sances by digging them out of the
ground during its nocturnal wander
ings. Now are we to allow this little
animal-one of the best of our friends
to become exterminated just because ht
happens to have some soft fur that til,
ladies want to wear? Woodchucks ar,
terrible pests in all sandy or hilly por
tions of the country. Even my hire
men and almost every boy know tha
the skunk ought to live for the good h
can do in the above ways, and that h
ought to be protected by the imposition
of five or ten dollar fine for the l1illin
of each one. The skunk goes into tn
woodchuck hole or stays there throug
the day, and goes forth in the night an
destroys insect life, He works all nigh
and is entirely harmless, except that b
will sometimes get a chicken or tw
from the shiftless farmer, but this los
can be avoided.