The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1926-02-12
SKUNK FARM
FOR YELLOWSTONE
BILLINGS MEN ORGANIZE COR.
PORATION ON A LARGE
SCALE
Expect to Have $4,000 Breeding
Animals Within Three Years
Would Give Employment to so
Men The Year Around

Men The Year Around
Raising Of skunks and other fur
bearing animals on a large scale is
a new Yellowstone county enter
prise which is being started this
winter by the Yellowstone Fur
company, a corporation of Billings
men,. The company now has more
than a hundred skanks I'm captivity
and has made contracts for secur.
ing about 500 more.
John B. Tansil is president of the.
company and the cOmpany's. skunk
farm is at present located on Mr..
lTansil's ranch on Alkali creek, north
of Billings. The company is now ne
lgotiattng for another tract after sew
eral pieces Of land have been looked
over by e. J. Rogers, a water engin-
Ger Of the DeLaire Boulder company.
The preliminary work in establish
ing the farm has been done largely
by George L. McCassey, secretary Of
the company. o. w. Crawford, vice
president, and Herman L. Hamilton,
manager, are both practical trappers
with a number Of years experience in
the business.
The organizers of the are
enthusiastic over the prospects of
making the business a paying indus
try and they claim that conditions
in Yellowstone county are ideal for
raising skunks at a profit. With the
natural increase Of the animals, they
expect in the course of three years
to have $4,000 breeding animals in
addition to those that are killed each
year.
May Mean Payroll.
The development Of the farm to
this extent would require the year
= around services Of about 80 men be-
sides the employment Of about 200
additional men from December IA to
February 1. each winter in cleaning
and skinning furs. Coming at a sea-
' son when other work is normally
scarce, this would meal a substantial
> contribution toward solving the en-
ployment situation in Billings dur
] ing the late winter, according to the
p promoters.
8 Skunks are remarkably free from
epidemics, according to Mr.. McCas-
9 sey, and as the animal is naturally
adapted to a cold climate, hard win
n tiers are seldom accompanied by loss
3 es. The animals are Om~niverOus and
they eat little in proportion to theil
value. This winter the animals have
been fed largely upon horse meat az
I this can be secured at an even lower
. cost than vegetable food.
Bathing Beauties
Dry land sections where there is Z
stream of water which can be relieC
upon the year around are particular
ly well adapted for skunk farms, &C
. cOrding to Mr.. McCassey. While tn,
skunk is. not a water animal, it is
very clean animal and must havu
water to battle in if it is to do well
= The term dirty skunk" is a gross in
n justice to a very tidy animal, MI
u McCassey says.
The principal expense in runnin.
a skunk farm is that incurred il
!, building pens for the animals. Fac.
female is kept in a separate breedin
pen. Burrows are provided for tn
animals and it is necessary to cor
, struct a buried woven wire fenc
about 80 inches deep to prevent tn
skunks from digging out of thei
r pens. The males which are to be de
stroyed are fattened for about tw
months before killing time and an
n kept in burrows under the KILN
o. pens. During the winter, the skunk
stay under ground most Of the tim
ialthOugh occasionally a few can /
TT seen about their pens.
St There are three sources of revenJ
n from the skunks, according to M
sc McCassey, the fur, oil and musk. tt
n. furs bring from 81 upward accOrdiI
.st to their condition, and there is
rs growing demand for them as Il
lc- skunks in their natural wild life b
come increasingly scarce.
nd The oil which is rendered from Il
26 bodies Of the animals the same
en- lard brings about 81 a pound. tt
0Tt oil is extensively used in drug pre-
'ps arations and as the base for mai
ul- medicines. There is a good demal
ell for it for use in salves, liniments al
ial for Group and rheumatism.
ma Musk for Perfume
nd The musk, which is secured fro
OF the. animals OdOrOus secretion viii