The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-12-20
MoxrY IN svUxx nUx11No.
A Connecticut Farmer Lirtr the shunks by
Their I niis and Knocks Them Senseiess.

Their Il niis and Knocks Them senseiess.
TnoMAsroN, Conn, Dec. 10.-Thero Is an I'M
preccdentcd demand for sknnks' oil this winter,
aud the rocky rccesses of mountainous Litch-
field county are responding nobly to 1t. Many
communities are redo;ent OF the scent of the
skunks, barn doors nro deliberately frescoed
with black and white potts, each stretched with
rows of single nails for curing, while In many
II sheltered spot, generally in the corner OF q
wall and near tho domestic woodpiie, In u siz-
cling iron Pot the last evidences of n nights
work with trip and gun among tho polecats is
being rendered into marketable oil.
This oil has always boon an important article
In the drug trade, and n steady supply "f 1t has
long gone out of this section during the lato fall
AMI early winter when the skunk has iattencd
preparatory to alternating. Just what iins oo-
casioncd the unusual demand for the oil Is not
known. Probably, however, It IS due TO the use
of the oil IN some new medicine. For years this
oil has been gaining general favor In tie treat
mcnt of asthmatiu ANTIQUITIES. lung troubles.
rheumatism of the joints. and bad sprains.
\ Iitcriirld druggist says that the oil will
strike through n two-inch chestnut plank, and
very little time indeed is required for it to make
its way through II dry pine board one inch thick.
"SkunE's oil" says this druggist, "penetrates
into the chest IN lung diseases and finds the
soro spots and heals them. loosens phlcgm in
the throat, lubricates the Joints. and for Group.
why. there's nothing like it, Ever since the
Colonial days skunk's oil has been "A famous
Connecticut remedy for the Group.
Tho skunk hunter gets 80 cents a pound for
the oil, and u fat skunk Mt this season will try
out "a pound and a hulf. Besides, the skunk
hunter sells tho pelts. which arc worth from
81 to Sl.bO each, according to their size and
freedom from white spots. Hence the income
of a skunk hunter who bags from eight to
twenty-five or mole skunks in II week amounts
TO u respectable figure.
There is IL" need OF skunk farms in Lhchheld
county. Here the polecats multiply with won
often embnrrass Yankee rural society. The
skunk Is the torment OF any person who hap
as one is liable to come upon 1t navarro and 1t
Will not hasten Us steps; 1t Is the bane OF the
fowler, for II ~awkwardly entangles Itself in tho
spreading snare ana scents IT, thus compelling
IA transfer OF SHARING operations to u new quar-
ter. ana it is as familiar us n kitten when en-
countored on the highway in the night. Woe
betido the man who essays to drive Il horse and
Tie bite OF tho skunk. too. is greatly feared
among Litchirid county skunk hunters: as it is
said ny the Old woodsnleh that the bite OF a mad
skunk surely produces hydrophobia. They are
positive in this BELIEF, and cite countless cases
in which dogs have gone mad after being bitten
by skuhks. In ante-Revolutionary times an old
Indian. named Oecum, living near Mount Tom
fond. went raving crazy from a bite received
from the sharp teeth of a skunk which the red
Henry Corrin's family in Cofssgall had an cx-
illustrates the Inconvenience of too many
skunks hereabout. Through an open door IA
portly black and white skunk strolled into the
kitchen where the supper table was set. When
Mrs. CORN, who had been absent for n moment.
returned to the room the skunk faced her and
curved Its back in readiness for an attack. Fully
expecting that everything in the apartment
house. shrieking for her husband. who was in
the barn. "A hurried council of war ended in
lighted lantern, Inc skunk is a night prowler
and hates artificial light Corrin depended
upon TINS hatred or light to evlct II. BY swing
| ing his lantern cautiously in circles nd nv all,.
Ing gradually toward the skunk Corrin finally
the door, leaving the apartment unharmed.
But when the animal reached the doorstep 1t
was wa r Ho1n nee on by " the If fSr E,r dog The dog
soon enough TO save tho neighborhood. The
Corrins were unable to eat a meal in the room
for three days and the dog was tied up in the
woods for nearly a week.
Until lately the common method of taking the
skunk hereabout has been TO trap 1t in dead
falls. the use of the gun being injurious to the
fur. The dead fail is a little sem! circular en-
baitcd aid riGsed with II trigger. which. when
tripned, lets a log down on the .kunk, killing.
taittor t t&@fiSpe season. mas by se' d.s sysT{GsaS tho se
regardless of the chances of hydrophobia or
Blows. Kiptsisy's hauls Ss Of ssunk s'' BY q sSsse
means are SO large that some of his competitors
Kingsley is a LITTLE. dried.up. uncommunica.
tive old man. who does not look very cour-
ageOus. ne Is shlu TO nave maze several thou
sand dollar, by skunk hunting. Last year
while experimenting in skunk catching In order
his deadfalls would yield. he worked for a time.
he says, on the old theory that a sharp rap from
viii so paraiyze TIE muscles OF the back that the
tail will fall down cutting off the scent
and leaving the animal open 70 approach: Re.
that, as long As the skunk's tall dropred. moth
Ing was to he feared a as III, h glands WHICH ,hroW
has to be raised and thrown over the back when
the skunk assa;ls an enemy.
entirely new style Of warfare. He took out on
OH Bose. He would start out after nightfaIl..
Whenever "A skunk was routed out, the dog, as a
rule, would bring it to bay by barking, and yet
not irr,tnte it to such a degree that It's scent
would be thrown. When first tried. last sea-
son. Old Bose cost his master several skunks
then turning tail and running In one direction.
times MIR. Kingsley was still further chaerlned
by finding that no amount of persuasion would
skunk. Kingsley had to train the dog patiently
to the new style of hunting.
When the dog now has the skunk well at bay,
and the skunk's attention is fully occupied,
Kingsley walks up behind the skunk and gets 1t
with, arm grasp he picks the skunk up by the
tail, being careful to hold the tail down. and
hh head Win ine @ a einb. s Thati Is SiI there q ssp , G tn the the
operation. and yet Mr.. Kingsley has not found
another man in Litcnheln county who dHres to
hunting last year that this season he has been
hunting steadily since Nov. 10. He has taken
rs many as twenty skunks in n night,
Mr.. kingsley's oil trying works consist OF q
large iron kettle mounted on IA stone drerlace In
n little she'd. The whole apparatus stands In
the woods half q mile from his house. Roogd
the great kettle is a prevailing smell of skunk.
for hundreds upon hundreds OF skunks have
been dissec,ed there for the benefit OF mankind.
Kingsley ships his oil TO New York. AT
present he is uneasy upon two points. He fears
that the skunk hunters OF Litchfeld county
will adopt his new method Of hunting the
skunk, and that. II they do. the skunk crop will