The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-07-11
RAISING FUR-BEARING
ANIMALS FOR PROFIT
By FREDERIC j. HASKIN
By FREDERIC J.. HASKIN.

From the time when Jason went forth /
in search of the golden fleece until John /
Jacob Astor laid the foundations Of the /
first great American fortune, the hunt |
ing OF animals for their pelts has been
a business which has tempted the ad- /
venturous and proited the thrifty. But |
it remained for the Yankees to estab- /
lish an artificial source of fur supply by /
rearing animals especially for their |
pelts There are now perhaps fifty sue
cessful fox farms on which are propa- !
gated and reared the valuable blue fox. /
Skunk farms have been started IN sew
eral States, and a few of them have been
measurably successful. In Alaska ex-
peTiments are being made in rearing /
bears for t3seir skins. AInks, beavers, |
and offers are the subjects of expert |
mental fur farming. also, but on a very
limited scale.
OF all those experiments. blue fox
farming has been the only one which has
developed into a considerable industry.
On some thirty-fve of the bleak and
barren Islands Of the Aleutian chain. !
stretching from Alaska almost TO Asia,
fox farms are successfully conducted.
On a somewhat smaller scale profitable
fox farms are TO be found on islands be-
longing to Maine, and there Is at least
one in the interior Of Vermont Colo
RADIO also has a new fox preserve The |
smaller Alaskan islands, which are al |
most wholly unproductiye, are leased by |
the fur growers from the government for |
an annual rental of about 800 each. A |
pair Of blue foxes may be purchased for |
-.
one Of the most successful preserves
was started with 1O4 foxes. and IN five |
years there were 1875 animals on the !
island. A period Of ten or twelve years
is allowed before a profitable return is /
10 be expected.
The blue fox is a very valuable animal. |
a single skin being worth from SIS 20 $50 /
on the London market Its coat IS Of |
gray-blue color, and quite fine and |
thick. It Is more easily handled than |
other varieties of foxes. becoming al |
most tame. In the Alaskan island /
farms the foxes are fed on cornmeal /
mush. made with blubber and fish OIL 1
and they will respond 10 calls at feeding 4
time much as any domesticated animals i
They are extremely suspicious OF stran- /
gers. however, and are not inclined 10 1
seek the company Of their keepers ex-
cept when being fed.
The foxes are trapped in boxes so that 1
those 10 be kept for breeding will not be /
injured. The carefully selected breeding /
foxes are marked by clipping their tails |
Once breeding fox has entered a trap 4
and been liberated he becomes a nuisance /
10 the keepers, for, knowing that no harm
VIII come 10 him, he springs every trap /
he can find as soon rs it is set. in order /
10 get the food with which it is baited
The rare silver fox. whose pelt is /
literally worth its weight in gold. has
been the subject of experimentation. but 4
so far without success. The silver fox is /
In fact but color phase of the red fox. /
and in domestic propagation there is a re-
version 10 the common type The male is /
very feroci0us. and viii destroy the young
as soon as they are born. The same thing
is true of the valuable cross-fox, highly |
priced for his markings. It is believed By
many fur trade experts that Il is per !
fectly feasible 10 propagate the precious /
Russian sable in the Alaskan islands and
some small experiments have been under /
taken.
On each fox farm island there IS /
keeper and two or three native assistants; /
most Of the food supply comes from the 1
surrounding waters, and there is little ex-
pense attached 70 the undertaking. Time
IS required, however. TO get a colony OF /
foxes large enough TO spare many Of them I
tc be killed for their pelts. While the fur /
Of foxes raised in captivity is Of fine /
quality, the animal suffers by the change /
from his natural conditions. and in the 4
lr.
by parasite which greatly weakens him. /
Raising foxes IS not dangerous bust
ness, but the same cannot be said of I
skunk farming. DR.. Elliott Coues. the
great naturalist, says: ITO depend upon
the good viii Of so irritable and so formi-
dable beast, whose temper may be ruff
fed In moment, is as hazardous as the
enjoyment Of a cigar IN powder maya
zine. Not only has the skunk a powerful
means or self-defense. which has brought
him into malOdOTOUS infamy but hts bite
IS extremely dangerous, being liable to
cause a disease closely akin to hydropho-
bia and equally as fatal Notwithstanding
the difficulties Of the business skunk
farming has been tried IN several of the |
states. and IS now being carried on in |
Ohio. Indiana, and the Indian Territory.
If not in other places.
ABDUL elgnt years ago a newspaper
story, Intended to be taken as Joke.
started hundreds Of people to inquiring
about skunk farming, and induced many
10 actually engage in the business. This
story purported TO come from a high Off
cial in the Department Of Agriculture. It
declared that with start of twenty
skunks the natural increase IN four. years
would be $3.50 900 skunks. worth a dollar
apiece for hides and % cents an ounce for
OIL made from the fat. Col Sellers never
thought of a scheme in which there were
so many millions.
One company formed in Pennsylvania
spent $4,000 on skunk farming expert
ment based upon these remarkable
figures, but had TO give It up as a losing
investment. Others went into the bust
ness on a smaller scale, and have contin-
ued, some of them making a fair return
or Their money. The PENNSYLVANIA ex
pertinent started out with 300 skunks. in
twenty-acre inclosure The promoters
expected to have 1900 animals by the next
year, but instead there was d decrease.
This led to a closer study OF the habits
Of the animals. and they were found to !
be Cannibals. The male skunks ate the
young ones almost as soon as they were
born.
The females and their young were then
separated from the males. when ii was
discovered that they ate each others
broods. The only successful method found