East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1909-08-27
SKUNKS PROVE
MONEY MAKERS.
POLECAT FARMING HAS
BECOME BIG INDUSTRY
Old Man In New York Raises Them
for Pcts--Many Others Raise Them
for Their Oil and Pclts-Eortuncs
Are Made Easily.

Few persons who travel the high
way between Tarrytown and White
Plains, N. Y, fail to notice strange
little place on the north side of the
road at the end Of the Rockefeller
estate. A little one-story cabin mud
dies in a corner Of the gully into
which the road dips at that point. An
abutment raises the road from the
gully bottom nearly half the height OF
the little shack. and from the street
cars the stunted window at the front
seems almost within reach.
For years this picturesque little
cabin in the gully has been the nome
of a unique characteT-Sam Tate. He
is well known by the people in the
vicinity Nobody seems to know his
exact age, but he is credited with be-
ing more than so.
Skunk raising is the old mans
means of livelihood. In the summer
he does some work on the neighbor-
ing estates, but most of his time Is
spent in catching and raising pole
cats. A resident with a pestiferous
varmint about his place sends for
Old Sam.
The sheds about the little cabin are
generally full Of like sxunks Tanner
ones are allowed the freedom OF the
house. They become pets, and the
old man handles them like kittens.
"Skunks are like most people he
will tell you. Handle 'em right ana
Won won't get hurt. I'd rather have
'em around than most folks, because
they don't want to boss all the time ~
Scions Of the wealthy families that
live between Tarrytown and Whlte
plains visit Old Sam TO learn about
skunks. To one young man Old sam
taught the art of handling them the
youth in his struggle for knowledge
however, was too energetic and was
forced TO discontinue his lesson.
skunk farming is becoming an I'M
.nortant industry in some parts of the
United States, and yet the man VINO
suggested II was regarded as mentally
unsoumd. A few years ago an enter
prisinp imaginative Washington cor
respondent sent out a purely rake
story about the big money which was
IN he made i'm squnk farming, CIV
ing the department of agriculture as
his authority. The result was that
hundreds of letters from people all
over the country poured into Wash-
irpton addressed to the department
OF agriculture.
AT that time there could be gwen
hut one answer, and that was tha'
tho story was a fake and that there
were no facts relative to the Industry
Int since then there has been great
change for the story did effective
work In the skunk regions '''e
farmers got busy, so to speak, anu
several skunk farms were started To-
dav fhore are hundreds of such farms
on a paying basis.
Tho average skunk produces
,,uart Of oil. and the fur or skin al
ways brings good price, tashioh res
ulating the value. At the present
time the skins which are the hos'
vahiable are the darker ones pure
black skin is worth from Sl'25 10
s9bO according TO the quality ana
size: a striped skunk skin brings III
,bs market about so or'60 cents, whlle
those with part stripe are wor'h III
the neighborhood of a dollar
While there are no official status
,,cs an record, it is known that the
American skunk will begin breeding
at one year old. They breed twice
,,oar and have 1ttters Of from i've 10
tb,rteen--an average OF eight to the
litter. ,,
II has been figured out that man
who understands skunk farming eah
hooir on twenty skunks, fifteen te-
males and five males, and In rev
yeors he can have a healthy Danh
account II is not difficuh TO cal
cu,ote how rapidly these twenty
skunks will increase in number, say
Won begin work early In the tali anu
that in December they breed Az
orce Won have an increase OF lEe
skunks. putting the average OF eaci,
litter at eight. In June they preeu
ogain and IL the same ratio OF IN
crease be kept up, at the expiration
80 wear and half you will nave
7495 skunks.
Put the pelts at 81 each. the pei.s
q, 9oo male skunks would bring $2oo'
tbo oil at so cents an ounce wouid
no worth $500. Then figuring as was
dono on the increase in skunks at tne
exniration of year and hair you
could kin 1900 male skunks, the pelts
80 which would be worth that many
dollars. 80.
The amount of oil gathered from
this number would be 29,6OO ounces
worth lust $14.SO0 At the expira-
t,or Of four years you would have
,illed 1890. 900 males, the pelts vi
which would be worth $1,S9O,OOO ana
the oil. 15,12O,OOO ounces, worth w.
$50 900. And you would still nave
3.7OO, 900 skunks left.
If is not surprising that SKUNK
farming is being taken up through
ont the country, and if it were poss'-
b,c 70 deodorize the skunk the indus-
try would be even more popular
New York World.