Working With A Purpose 45

The whole venture lasted for three years but it was a long three years for the people living nearby. The horrible odor, carried by the breeze would permeate their homes until they could neither eat nor sleep. In desperation they talked of selling their properties and moving elsewhere, but not a buyer could be found. No doubt some strong complaints were expressed to the owners of the ranch who by now were getting fed up with the whole opera- tion —— no sale for their furs and no buyer for the cute little animals that had been in their care for three years.

It seemed there was only one solution to their problem. They opened

the doors and let about forty skunks take off to the far corners of Prince Edward Island.

Living in the wild they became so numerous and such a pest that the government had to step in and place a bounty on them. In 1915 the in- teresting sum of one dollar was paid for every skunk‘s snout that was returned.

For many years the feat of harvesting the profitable end of this black and white striped creature without triggering the odoriferous mechanism on the other end, was a challenge among the bounty hunters.