The record-union., 1896-04-16
A CURIOUS CROP.
Farm in Kentucky Where PolecatS Are
Raised.
Singular But Little-Known Animals
They Are as Playful as Kittens
When in Good Humor.

|
Poets and orators have devoted much
| OF their finest language to the bravery
developed in facing the angry muzZles
| of bristling cannon, of meeting foemen
with clashing steel, of standing firm be-
fore the coming of dreadful epidemics,
/ and all that sort of thing, but they don't
know what inspiration is until they let
their language loose on the bravery of
mingling with a hundred and fifty
skunks loaded and ready for business
| at moments notice, writes w. J..
Lanyton from Winchester to the Wash
| ington Star"
Last Sunday afternoon I went four
miles from this town down the Muddy
Greek pike to see George Ballard's pole
| cat plant or skunk farm or whatever
| else 1t may be called, and I enjoyed the
experience very much-after 1t was over
| and I was at safe distance again.
Here, on the slope Of a hillside, Mr.. Bal
| lard has an incloSure of about three
quarters of an acre, fenced in with a
wire-net fence five feet high, and within
it he has probably $50 skunks of vari-
Gus ages and sizes, and a prettier and
| livelier sight than this colony having
fun with itself on the sunny afternoon
would be hard to find.
| l took camera along to get a snap
shot or two, and when George, in his
genuine Kentucky hospitality, opened
the gate of the inclosure and invited
me to walk in among his collection,
confess to feeling of wanting to be
somewhere else, the farther away the
better. A man can't show the white
feather, however in any sort of an
emergency and retain the proper re-
spect of Kentuckian, and I would have
gone into that pen if every skunk there
had declared war and trained his arma-
ment on me.
| Dozens of the pretty little black and
white-striped fellows came up to the
netting to meet us, and as they showed
such friendliness and curiosity, stand
ing up on their hind legs and shifting
the air after the manner OF prairie
dogs, and winking and blinking as
much as to say they weren't half as
bad as they had been represented to be,
1 overcame my conscientious scruples
about going into such places on Sunday,
and boldly passed in among them. They
scampered away when we went in, with
little squeals like young pigs, and
lodged into their holes under the rocks
and into the boxes made for them, but
in minute or two their curiosity was
too much for them, and they came out
again and trooped around the pen in
long string like a striped serpent.
Every now and then a scrap would oc-
cur there would be squeal or two, and
a big one would toss smaller one over
| I, &c only nd a mr.
cession would move on. AS rule, they
are as playful as kittens, show very
little fear of man, and their habits are
extremely cleanly This is when they
are at peace with all the world and the
rest Of Kentucky. When they are not at
peace, then-well, language is utterly
| inadequate to express what they are.
1t is one of the things that must be
smelled to be appreciated. Fortunately.
was not called on to appreciate it.
This farm was established-it is yet
only in an experimental stage-in April
of last year by Mr.. Ballard, Mr.. Mock
abee and others, who had been reading
up in the newspapers on skunk farming
and the possible profits in the business,
and the first thing they did was to select
site and dig a trench down to bedrock,
on which to lay a stone foundation. 1t
was necessary to go down to the rock,
| for a skunk can and will dig mile un-
derground if it should occur to him that
there is any necessity. The foundation
! being firmly fixed, wire netting fence,
with a wide plank on top Of it, 80 that
the inmates could not reach up over its
| top and climb out, was run around IT,;
piles of stones and logs were placed
around at intervals, with a number of
boxes or coops, and the plant was ready
| for business. The next thing was to get
| a skunk or two, and as soon as the
colored brother learned that he could
get fifty cents for a good, healthy me-
phitis mephitica that want was supplied
and business began.
The majority Of the animals owned by
Mr.. Ballard have been captured, and
there is an art in this work, as we'll as
| in other dealings with skunk. AS they
must be in good condition, it is not pos
sible to catch them in the ordinary trap,
| and nothing on earth will coax a skunk
! into box trap as a rat may be caught
| He is altogether too curious for that,
and, instead of going into the box set so
invitingly before HIM, he turns it over
| two or three times, and generally sue
ceeds in rolling it down a hill or getting
it's open side down, so he couldn't get in