The Skunk

With fall coming on, the main topic of at-school conversation was hunting. Outside of the weak, little, hickory bow he had nothing to hunt with. Seemed like most of these country kids had a single shot .22, usually a “Stevens Favorite” or a “Crackshot” or a .410. or a 20 gauge single barrel. He didn’t even own a BB gun get although he pleaded constantly for one. The war in Europe had finally ended, but there were no BB guns to buy. Not only that but he was told he wasn’t old enough to have one yet. Pointing out that kids younger than he was had 22 rifles and .410 shotguns did no good. What a bummer! However another subject came up and that was trapping muskrats, mink, raccoons and foxes. In the machine shed hung about 1 dozen traps. Fortunately, Grandpa’s dad trapped when he was a boy so he was taught the fine art of trapping.

The farm had a lot of creeks and swamps on it and Grandpa was soon totally wrapped up in muskrat trapping. Success came slowly at first but as time went on things looked better. Getting up in the mornings in time to check traps before helping to milk (by hand) about 20 cows was pretty hard but worth it. Arriving to school the first item of business was to see who got what and most of in their traps.

Muskrats brought $1.50 each, skunks, depending on the width of the white stripe, were anywhere from $1.50 to $2.50. The less white the better. When coming up to a trap one morning Grandpa saw that a muskrat had been in it and was all torn to pieces. Grandpa’s dad told him that a mink had killed the muskrat. He showed him how to set 2 traps so that if a muskrat got in one and a mink found it, it would get caught in the second trap as he circled the doomed muskrat. Two days later he found a muskrat in one trap and a very enraged mink in the other. He also made another discovery. Muskrat hides brought $1.50 and Mink, $35.00. It was at this time that he entered the world of high finance.

Another discovery was made. Grandpa set a trap in the hole under the machine shed and coming back the next morning found a skunk inside. His dad was home so he was summoned for help. His dad took a hammer handle and slowly pulled the skunk out. He whacked it on the back of the head and that was it. Nice and neat! This was followed by a lesson on skinning skunks and what to avoid. No problem. Two days later the trap chain was again pulled down into the hole and sure enough there was a skunk in it. So he slowly pulled it out just like dad did and using the same hammer handle whacked the skunk just like his dad did. At this point things didn’t go the same.

Instead of just giving up the ghost as the last one did this one commenced to turn the air a kind of yellowish color even thought it was dead. After skinning this one as per instructions he went into the back shed of the house. Hid parents were having coffee in the kitchen and mom said, “Oh boy! I think there is a skunk in the shed!” When they looked in the shed at the smelly child standing there, mom said, “Stay right there!” She came out with a bar of “Jets Naptha” soap and he was told to take a bath in the cow tank. The fact that this water was close to freezing didn’t seem to matter. So a quick bath was taken, some old clothes brought out, and on further examination a second bath was ordered. That night he was fed out in the shed and found out what it was like to sleep out in the barn in the haymow. Sleeping in the hay was not so bad but things were about to start looking up.

Next day at school when discussing “who trapped what”, all the kids seemed to like the upwind side of him. Finally the bell rang and they all trooped into school. When the teacher came in her happy smile disappeared from her face and she asked, “Who got skunked?” He had to admit to it as every kid in the room was watching with a big grin on his face. The teacher told him that they couldn’t bear the smell and that he should probably go home for 2 days.

Wow! Trap a skunk and get 2 days off from school!! By this time he had trapped several more minks, and things were about as good as a kid could ask for. Except Grandpa still had no BB Gun and no .22 rifle. Oh well you can’t have everything at once and his dad said he could buy a BB Gun if one ever became available. With money in the bank, 12 traps and a dog named Rex for a buddy, what more does a kid need outside of a BB Fun!

Oh yes, one thing, how to kill a trapped skunk without getting skunked. There was an old trapper there who informed him that if you get the skunks feet off the ground he can’t activate his sprayer. You staple your trap chain to a pole and hoist the skunk up into the air, then whack him on the head. So that sounded OK coming from an old trapper. The next skunk was neatly lifted up off the ground on the end of a pole. It looked down to see where the kid was and sent a direct shot of stink right into the kids face. More baths with “Jets Naptha” soap, more nights in the haymow, and 2 more days off from school! There had to be a better way!