"Are The Scent Sacs The Same in Both Sexes?" Yes, they are the same in both sexes. They open into the rectum and are not related in any way to the reproductive or urinary systems. The scent fluid is not the urine as many people imagine.
"What Do You Pay For Black Skunks?" We pay from $5 to $15 each for grade AAA according to time of year, locality and size. The scent sacs must be removed. We pay express charges on all skunks which we buy. If you have any choice specimens you wish to sell write us full description and we will gladly make you quotation. We want 500 skunk now.
"What is The Best Age For Removing The Scent Sacs?" This work can be done at any age easily unless the skunk is very fat. We strongly recommend that you begin on young skunks in the spring, any time after the eyes are open. The young skunks are easily weaned. They readily take milk or bread and milk and do not need the mother. Do not let them run with old skunk.
"What Kind of Fencing Do I Need For Skunks?" Poultry netting 2 to 3 feet in the ground and 6 feet above ground makes the cheapest fence. To prevent climbing out make at the top an over-hang of netting 12 or 18 inches wide or place a strip of tin about 18 inches wide on the inside of the fence near the top to make it smooth and slippery. The netting should be 1½-inch mesh for the main yard (for adults) and 1-inch mesh for the breeding pens. The best fencing is made from galvanized tin or galvanized iron, in our opinion. Read chapter on "Enclosures."
"How do you grade Skunk?" Personally I think the eastern assortment best; which is as follows:
"Eastern Assortment. The average size, ordinary color of fur, prime or unprime pelt is considered, then graded to No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 or No. 4 grade. On skunk for illustration: the short shoulder stripe is graded as No. 1 when prime and full size, the object of this assortment is as few grades as possible, prices quoted will not permit of as high quotations as firms quoting Western Assortment, but will figure equally as much if not more, in dollars and cents."
The Western Assortment is as follows:
"Western Assortment. Each pelt is graded to its individual value, first color, then size, primeness, etc., as high as thirty grades are used; skunk for instance is graded for black, short narrow and broad, then as to size and shade and color, etc., each commanding a different value. A firm using this assortment can quote most any price if they desire and have their goods just as cheap, if not cheaper, than those using eastern assortment only."
"Where can I sell skunk grease and what does it sell at?" There is a small demand for animal oils and grease, but the markets shift from point to point. You will have to get in touch with these markets through drug stores and doctors who know addresses of chemists and dealers in drugs. There are many by-products of the trap line which trappers should study, to see if they could not work them into commercial lines. Animal oils are one of these by-products. I think that skunk oil, under a fancy name, scented with a little musk or perfume, would find ready sale for chapped hands, sunburn, etc. These oils are usually wasted now. There is an opening for a dealer in animal oils if he knows the users.
"When is the best time to trap Skunk?" In cold weather, when fur-bearers den up and hibernate, trappers smoke out more animals in one day than they can take in traps in a month; besides, they get prime fur worth the most money. Still we do not advocate this method. They should be captured alive for breeding purposes.