The morning call., 1894-05-22
BLACK MARTEN.
1t Is Prepared in New York From
the Skin of the Skunk.


"DO you know what is one OF the most i'm
portant fur animals that we have ?" said a
Fifh-ayenue fur dealer. "Wel IL is the com.
mon, malOdorOuS skunk; but you never hear OF
skunk fur In q retail store. We sell IL as black
marIeD, and ii enters largely into the trimming
OF clOaks mutfieTs and such articles It Is
really fine, soft, long fur and rather costly
There ought really 10 be no prejudice against
skunk fur as such, as It Is thoroughly deodor-
lZed and perfectly Clearly aud heathfGl 10
wear. Skunk Is a di>agreeable word, simply
because the animal IS capable of making an ex-
tremely disagree able Ouor. But II a skunk Is
not molesled he viii not use his powerful and
unique means OF defense.
ut Is fact that some trappeTs have success
fully started skunk stoekfarms. The wholly
black animals are The most valuable, as a pure
black skin Of good siZ Will bring 81 so, while
those striped with white sell as low as % cents.
OF course the fur can be dyed, and Is dyed, but
the tiaDpeTs have generally lost this difference
In price on the striped skins. Lately however.
some 81 the county boys have taken TO foolng
the tul-buyerS by Gyeing the furs themselves
WITH mustache dye or some other cODcOctOn.
"Grrat Is the wrath of the dealers when they
detect such tricks. There is a story up in
Connecticut that one trspper passed off lot of
Imitation skunk skins on a buyer who was too
tlpsy 10 SIC the deception until IL was too late
10 trace II. The trapper had the skin OF jet
black Holstein COW that had grown fine, long
lur Dy the animaFs previous exposure to the
blasts of winter
This cOwhde he carefully cut up 10 initiate
SKUNK SKINS, tails and all. aud, counting them
out randy 10 the dealer, along with the gen.
ulne SKINS he made them pass the befuddled
inspection of the buyer and got about $50 for
Inc cows hide, all the whole animal was worth
The skins were baled and sent 10 New York.
After that this particular dealer never bought
skunk skins when he was tight.
lone Of The ways of trapping the skunk IS to
prop uD heavy, fat stone by a series OF sticks
bent and Joined together, so as TO represent a
inquire 4. On the horizontal bar OF the figure a
piece OF meat-generally skunEs f1esh-is
placed and a slight disturbance OF this bait
springs the trap and the h avy stone falls on
the animal When the skunk Is caught in COM
mon steel straps, II is shat by a bullet through
the head, performance that requires caution
ana good craftsmanship.
Al a recent large sale OF furs In London the
Kind that exceeded all others in aggregate
value was the ordinary muskrat. These willy
deniZens OF brooks and ponds are trapped IN
great numbers In this country. They can be
easily traced by their paths leading 10 the
waters edge. bur the trap must be placed under
water, Ia the mud, as they are too wise 10 get
into any trap set on shore. Though musk rat
skins sell as low as 10 cents apiece, the value
OF the fur caught every year amounts TO mil
lions OF dollars. The red and silver foxes, how
ever, furnish the most sport for the fur hunter,
The skins bring from s so to So, and sue
eesSful days sport has both its pecuniary profit
ana fund Of enjoyment. Many hunters care
fnily Drotecl the female foxes aud their young,
so far as possible, so as TO insure plenty of
sport and furs in the fall ana winter."-New
York Tribune,