The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1894-05-26
THE SKUNK TRAuS1O11ED.
How the Animal Becomes the Black
uarten Of tho City.

important fur animals that We have7''
said Fifth avenue fur dealer. swell,
it il the common malodorous skunk; but
you never hear of skunk fur in a retail
store. We sell it as black marten, and il
enters largely into the trimming Of cloaks,
mufflers and such articles. It is really a
fine, soft long fur and rather costly.
There ought really to be no prejudice
against skunk fur rs such, - it 10
thoroughly deodorized and perfectly
clearly and healthtul TO wear. Skunk Is
disagreeabie word, simply because the
animal is capable of making an extreme
disagreeable odor. But if skunk Is not
molested he will net use his powerful and
unique meaus of defense.
sit is fact that some trappers have
successfully started skunk stock farms.
The wholly black animals are the most
valuable, as a pure black skin of good
size will bring $3.50, while those striped
with white will sell as low as csc. OF
course, the fur can be dyed, but the
trappers have generally lost this difference
in price on the striped skins. Lately,
however, some of the country boys have
taken to fooling the fur buyers by dyeing
the furs themselves, with moustache dye,
or some other connection.
"Great is the wrath of the dealers when
they detect such tricks. There is story
up in Connecticut thar one trapper passed
off lot of imitation skunk skins on a
buyer who was too tipsy to see the decep-
ton until it was too late to trace it..
The trapper had the skin of jet-black
Holstein cow that had grown fine, long
fur by tie ANIMALS previous exposure to
the blasts of winter. This cowhide he
carefully cut up to intimate skunk skins,
tails and all, and counting them out rap
idly to the dealer, along with the genuine
SKINS, he made them pass the befuddled
inspection of the buyer and got about $50
for the cows hide, all the whole animal
was worth. The skins were baled and
sent to New York. After that this par
ticular dealer never bought skunk skins
when he was tight.
"One of the ways of trapping the skunk
Is to prop up heavy, fat stone by a
series Of sticks bent and Joined together
30 as to represent figure 4. On the hor-
izontal bar of the figure piece of meat
generally skunk's flesh is placed and
q slight disturbance of this bait springs
the trap and the heavy stone falls on the
animal. When the skunk is caught in
common steel traps it is shot by bullet
through the head, performance that re-
quires caution and good craftsmanship.
"At recent large sale of furs in Lon
don the kind that exceeded all others ag-
gregate 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 to the waters edge,
but the trap must be placed under water,
in the mud, as they are too wise to get
into any trap set on shore. Though musk.
rat skins sell as low ut l0c apiece, the
value of the fur caught every year
amounts to. millions of dollars. The red
and silver foxes, however furnish the
most sport for the fur hunter. The skins
being from $3.50 to So, and successful
days sport has both its pecuniary profit
and fund of enjoyment. Many hunters
carefully protect the female foxes and
their young, so far as possible, SO as to
insure plenty of sport and furs in the fall
and winter."-N. Y. Tribune.