Directions for Removing the Scent Sacs From Live Skunks Without the Escape of Any of the Scent Fluid.

FIG. 1, X-RAY OF SCENT SYSTEM.

This operation is simple and may be readily learned by anyone who will follow these instructions carefully. No anaesthetic is needed.

1. The beginner should dress in old clothes or overalls and as a precaution should wear goggles to protect the eyes in case of accident. An old hat or a paper sack worn as a cap will protect the hair. With these safeguards the learner feels perfectly at ease and therefore the chance of accident is much lessened while acquiring proficiency.

2. A heavy plank supported on two wooden buckets makes a good operating table. Straddling this plank the operator and his assistant sit facing each other.

3. The proper instruments are as follows:

4. Several pieces of clean white cloth about three inches square should be provided.

5. The instruments should be boiled about ten minutes in clear water to insure cleanliness. During the operation they should be kept in a saucer containing a five per cent solution of carbolic acid which may be placed on a box within easy reach of the operator's right hand.

6. The operator first takes his seat and spreads a gunny-sack or burlap across the plank just in front of him.

7. The assistant then brings the skunk carrying it by the tail with his right hand. His left hand should grasp the nape of the neck to help keep the head down for the back-bone and tail must at all times be kept in a straight line.

8. The assistant now, by means of his hold on the nape of the neck brings the skunk into a horizontal position (keeping the backbone and tail in a straight line) and lays it belly downward on the gunny-sack with head toward the operator.

FIG. 2, SECTIONAL VIEW OF SCENT SYSTEM.

9. The operator wraps the gunny-sack snugly about the skunk while the assistant releases his hold on the nape of the neck.

10. The assistant now immediately places the forefinger of his left hand with light pressure over the vent, while the operator proceeds to turn the skunk on its back keeping the gunny-sack wrapped firmly about the animal.

11. Now only the tail and butt of the skunk are exposed to view. The gunny-sack covers all four feet and head so there can be no scratching or biting.

12. The operator brings his knees together over the plank and thereby holds the skunk. This enables him to have both hands free.

13. The operator now relieves the assistant by placing the fore-finger of his own left hand over the vent. With the thumb of the same hand he locates the scent gland just to the right of the vent. The gland is easily recognized as feeling hard and round like a marble beneath the skin abreast of the vent, neither forward nor backward from the vent.

14. Having the thumb and fore-finger about an inch and a quarter apart the operator now squeezes the gland tight enough to draw the skin firmly over it. His right hand is free.

15. With a piece of cloth dipped in the carbolic solution he moistens the fur and skin held between his thumb and finger.

16. With the scalpel, starting at least three-eights of an inch from the vent so as not to injure the sphincter muscle which encircles the vent, the operator makes an incision through the skin about five-eighths of an inch long directly over the center of the scent gland and in a straight line with the vent, as shown at H in Fig. 1.

17. The incision is now carefully deepened until the firm, gizzard-like envelope in which the sac lies is reached. The beginner is likely to mistake this firm, muscular envelope for the sac itself because the envelope is lighter in color than the tissues previously cut.

18. He now proceeds more gradually to cut through the muscular envelope as shown at H in Fig. 2, taking light strokes with the scalpel and cutting only a slight depth each time.

19. If the muscular envelope cannot be held firmly enough by the pressure of thumb and finger so the knife will cut well the muscle may be hooked with the tenaculum and thus held by the assistant while the operator cuts.

20. Soon a small white bead appears in the bottom of the incision as shown at L in Fig. 2. There is no mistaking this as it is the white sac itself pushing through a very small opening which has been made through the envelope.

21. This opening is now carefully increased by turning the dull side of the scalpel toward the protruding sac and cutting away from it, first on one side and then on the other.

22. The sac keeps pushing outward more and more until it is about the size of a pea. The cutting is then stopped.

23. Now by means of the extracting forceps the sac is gradually lifted by raising it a little on one side and then on the other. The object is to work the sac through the small opening without tearing it by too violent a pull and without lacerating it by gripping too hard with the forceps. The proper way is to grasp lightly and pull gently here and there at its base.

24. When half the sac has been worked through the opening the sac suddenly pops up out of the gizzard-like envelope.

25. The sac is now lifted carefully by the extracting forceps to see that it is all clear and attached only by the discharge duct.

26. If any slight muscular tissue is found clinging to the sac it may be torn away with the sound or tenaculum or carefully cut with the scalpel.

27. The duct, which alone holds the sac, is now clamped in the automatic forceps as near the sac as feasible as shown in Fig. 3.

28. The assistant now holds these forceps and thus supports the sac so the operator can see the duct clearly.

29. The operator then carefully examines the duct preparatory to cutting it. He must be very sure not to cut it too close to the rectum or he will cut a round hole in the rectal wall because even a slight pull on the duct draws the discharge papilla outward and brings with it the wall of the rectum wrapped about the papilla so as to look like a continuation of the duct. See C, Figs 1, 2, 3.

30. By feeling carefully with the sound or the dull side of the scalpel the end of the papilla nearest the sac is readily discerned by its firmness or hardness.

31. The duct is now severed with the scalpel at a point a little way from the papilla as shown at G in Fig. 3.

32. The sac is now held free in the clamping forceps and not a particle of the scent fluid has escaped.

33. The operator then proceeds in the same manner to locate and remove the second sac.

FIG. 3. SAC COMPLETELY WITHDRAWN.

34. The incisions should be wiped out with a piece of cloth with carbolic solution and never need any further attention. In a few days not even the scars can be found.

35. The operation is performed most easily when the animal is not too old or fat. Any time from one-third to two-thirds growth is a good age for this work.

36. With a little practice the complete operation of removing both scent sacs should not take over five minutes or skunks may be handled at rate of ten or twelve per hour.

The removing of the scent sac has increased the value of No. Four skunk. Many are sold as pets, and others used for advertising purposes. We do not go to the trouble of removing the sac on animals we know we are going to kill soon. There is no danger of scenting when the skunk is carried suspended by the tail.

Those who have failed in skunk raising were for the most part people who knew nothing regarding the habits of the animal and its care when in captivity. They were men with capital, who began on a large scale expecting to make a fortune in a short time, but in this they were mistaken, for many of them lost all that they invested. These parties have had trouble from the older animals killing and eating the young, also depradations of owls, but mainly from the first reason. It is our opinion that this cannibalistic tendency is caused by improper feeding, as those parties who have used care in that respect have had no trouble whatever.

To those who are thinking of embarking in the business of skunk farming, we would say—start on a small scale with only a small number of animals, say two dozen females and six males. Give them every possible attention and study them under all conditions. Do not expect to make a fortune in a short time.