New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1909-09-19
sKUNKs RAISED FOR PETS.
Also for Profit on Remarkable Maine Farm
"A Profitable Industry.


The productive II not the largest skunk
farm In Maine Is the old Tom" Cummings
| place two miles from the ancient British earth
works at Fort Point. which were put up to repel
the French and Indian invasion from Canada In
1853 and dedicated about two weeks before General
Wolfe scaled the Heights Of Abraham and captured
Qu,bec
There are less than two hundred skunks In the
Enclosure. but they are all nearly pure black and
ATno Cummings. their owner and manager de-
clares that every animal is worth S. to him cum
mings Inherited the farm and skunkery from his
brother Howard. who spent moro than ten years In
buying and selling skunk skins extracting oil from
the animals he had slaughtered and studying thu
ways OF skunks. 50 far they related 10 the pro-
ducton OF black fur and OIL
A man who knows the business the way do"
said Arno Cummings to correspondent OF The
Rochester Herald can make a larger profit on
MS investment and make It steadily every year by
raising skunks In Maine than he can at any other
calling There are more secrets In the skunk bust
ness than there are in mixing fancy drinks
There's feeding. for one thing. Nobody ever
made anything AT rearing skunks in confinement
until my brother and learned how to prepare food
for the mother skunks while they were rearing
their young.
Until We found out better way everybody be-
heVed that because skunks stole chickens and ate
eggs before they were cooked that skunks would
not live without fresh diet Of some kind We
paid oul hundreds OF dollars every year for tom
oods caught In the smelt nets and for scupins and
sclap IN boston and porgy chum from the oil
the mothers turned canni6as and ale their voUnS
until me pups were all sObbled up, and then they
turned upon their abused husbands and served them
up raw at the family table
- For the last six years the only article that has
me! tne reIhotesi relation 10 meat product which W.
have gwen our prisoners eat mas been the skin,
m mi from the creameres. With skim milk, which
and Indian meal mixed to thin mush and lightly
baked into sort Of Indian pudding / can bring
colony of skunks through the coldt 81 winter tb,t
ever struck Maine without losing an animal and
without any complaints about infant t"s ora, r I and
without ma49ufaeturlng single, widow.
me skunk is lust the neatest and sweetest little
years now baS e % SSsb f0r more than dozen
ana nave handled them by the hundreds and thou
behind the wires and stirring them up there
is never any trouble a skunk is like can Of
know how to handle him.
to XII ! walk in and pick IL up. Just as I would a
shift It from one enclosure to another put It in
box to he sent away or rap II the head with
as keep the animal suspended by It's tail there Is
no 10 aamse[ So iar as risk is concerned there is
than there is transferring thousand sIkunlxs nv
hand They are the gentlest and sweetest little
One summer about eight years ago we had some
came down TO the skunk farm from New York TO
hat r fo than Mse before so6 ss 6g n
much as go inside the wire netting. She is now
cage OF trained skunks and receiving go a wees
ana expenses Tor giving two performances a day
She writes me she is drawing bigger crowd than
any bullhght In the country
O., th mere y good easy living. with few dollars
commercial venture. The pelts much lower now
than they we're ten years ago. when skunk naurs
were in fashion. but good solid black ska. with
only rev white hairs In the tail is worth "a at
any time Others with more in them sell az from
~ 30 70 ~, according to how close they the
STANDARD From four 20 six young skunks
produced every year. which commercially speaking
means $40 two years later. Strictly pure skunk's
OIL, bearing my seal and label is worth 81 a pint
or about ~ for every animal killed
AS FOR the cost OF feed and care that can
never amount to more than s. year for any ami
mai And when man can receive a cash return
OF " Tor every e he invests In skunks the ques-
ton becomes very simple one TO figure out tbs
PROFITS depending upon how many skunks he
kesps."