Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1896-12-18
IaNrs skuNks ON a BICYCLE
l-SDs MAJ Has Move, Wa. OF Captur-
Inc the Perfumed Animals

L-SDe Mar Has Move, Wa of Cuptur-
Inc the Perfumea Animals.
The wide meadows which stretch
Srom the PenobScot SiyeS east 10 Clifton
make Bradley, Me, one Of the best
skunk pastures in Maine. lr ordinary
years there are at least dozen fat
skunks tC every acre OF land. and as
land is counted by the square mile or
tow ns'hip tbere0bouts there il nc end
&c the number of skunks H. average
seoSons, wheh the grasshoppers are
plenty, skunJls aCe fiji TO Kill. during the.
full moon OF September. Owing to the
scarcity OF insects and the general de
preston caused by hard time the little
animals have not Tattened W, u early
as uSua1 IN 1896, Gnd the general round
up AMI slaughter has been postponed
5oT q week OF more.
The few hunters who have been out
report game plenty and the fur in ex-
ceileDt condition James Sinclaire, OF
E'idfngton, who KILLED Al skunks in
'hrNe nights. says the peltS are heavier
0ud darker colored than they have been
for years. Gus Anderson, of North
Jirew err, who has caught about 20 in
traps near his henhouSes, went on n
skunk hun: the other night and brought
il is large ones before daylight. Be-
fore this year Anderson has always
used dog to help him find the tni-
mails. On Friday night, having no dog,
he lighted lantern and rode through
The moved grass fields on his bicycle.
Whenever he saw n skunk he dis
mounted and killed IL with n club. lie
lkeS the new method very much, and
says good cIshi0n-tired bicycle is
away ahead of any dog he ever saw. He
offers to bet five dollars that he and his
bicycle can capture 20 skunks any fair
night.
Boys who want to earn money with
which to buy guns and winter clothing
are the chief skunk hunters Two wide
awake boys. accom- panied by yolping
dog, go along the sides of fences ard
brooks, killing all the sltunlos they c:lu
lind. IL the dog is greenhorn me shakes
the animals TO death and is sorry after
wand. If he is an old hand Mt the sport.
le barks about hrs prey until the hunt
crs come up and do the killing with
club. The animals are carried home,
and after the skin has been taken off
ami stretched on "a board the carcass
Is put over a slow fire and roasted foq.
the OIL. a skunk will yield from one
TO three Pimts of Cd, Averaging about
one quart. This has always sold for
four dollars n gnllon TO the local drug
GtSrS until the present hard times re-
duccd the rate TO 30 cents a pint or 50 20
gallon. The price of skins Nmries from
- cents for small ones thar are ncnu-lv
white. TO $l.25 for large, black ones;
s5 cents is about an average. From the
foregoing figures il can be seen that
every skunk nets the hunter about 81 so
As two boys and a dog Frequently kill
10 ar 20 skunks "a night it is n profitable
business " hilc il lasts. Boys and bach
elors are the chief patrons Of the sport.
Few MA HrieSl men have tried 10 get II liv-
ing by killing skunlls. Last year Ham
cock county judge decided that the
woman who was welded TO a chronic
skunk hunter Ind good grounds for
divorce. This pleased the boys 80 much
that they say they are going to elect
that judge governor when they get big
enough TO vote.
Though enterprising men in New
York and Connecticut have started
skunk farms of late, and ere said 10 be
getting rich selling oil and furs. 10
Maine man has yet made a fortune AZ
the business. Three or four years ago
farmer in Pittston, On the Kennebec
liver, fenced in some land and began to
grow SlIunks for the market. Though
be fed his pets on liver and offal from
The slaugh tcrhouSeS and tOmcods
caught from the river, he found TINT she
animals did not thrive we'll i'm confine-
Inent. More than half of them emi-
grated TO other towns. Those that re-
manned have picked up wonderfully
and produced n large number of Young
skunks, which will be hig enough TO Kill
in another ycOr. Last year Capt. Per
kIns, of Blue hill, fenced in three fe-
males and two male sl<unks and fed
them through the winter In the spring
lie found himself the proud owner of
~ baby skunks, nearly half of which
were almost pure black. Fortune
seemed about to come and make her
home with him when he went out one
day and found that the father skunks
had eaten. up all their offspring. The
captain chonged the diet of his caDtives.
and, feeding them on the best the mar
ket afforded, waited for the next l:tters.
winch came along in August. There
were 70 young ONES that time. They
got big enough to play like kittens
When they all disappeared. dying from
the same cause that had killed the
former BROOKS. After this the captain
used his fence for restraining hens. and
let the skunlls shift for themseIycs.-N
y. Sun.