Bolivian skunk ranch or bunk?

Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
1

Cecil once mentioned a “Bolivian skunk ranch” in what I assume was hyperbole (Adams, 1988). But is there really such a thing as a Bolivian skunk ranch?

There are two ways to read this question, depending on how we distribute the word “Bolivian”. Are there skunk ranches in Bolivia? Or alternatively, are there ranches for Bolivian skunks?

~Max

Adams, C. (April 8, 1988). Is it true gelatin is made from decaying animal hides? The Straight Dope. Retrieved from Is it true gelatin is made from decaying animal hides? - The Straight Dope

2

It’s a joke. There are no skunk ranches in Bolivia, or for Bolivian skunks, whichever way you parse the phrase.

3

Also, moved to Comments on Cecil’s Columns.

Colibri
General Questions Moderator

4

It’s right next to the Venezuelan Beaver Cheese shop.

5

There was a skunk works in Dogpatch.
There is a Skunk Works in the government.

6

There is only one species of skunk in Bolivia, Molina’s Hog-nosed Skunk.

At one time skunk pelts were used in the fur trade, and their musk has been used as a foundation for perfumes. There were limited efforts to farm skunks for their fur in the first half of the 20th Century, but the last commercial farms closed decades ago. It’s just too difficult to market it. Most people don’t want to be associated with skunks no matter how attractive the fur might be.

7

The Dogpatch Skonk Works were where Hairless Joe and Lonesome Polecat brewed up Kickapoo Joy Juice from skunks, old tires, and whatever else was laying around. Lockheed’s secretive development program for jet fighterswas named after it in 1943.

8

Colibri beat me to it, but I felt compelled to finish my train of thought.

To start out, I don’t know anything about skunks. I’ve seen a skunk in Bambi and maybe one at a zoo. We get raccoons and one of them may have been a skunk, but I never noticed the difference. Lucky me.

The first part of this inquiry is to determine whether there is such a thing as a “Bolivian skunk”. If there are no skunks in Bolivia, the main question is definitively answered in the negative.

So I being my research on this most important matter by consulting my encyclopedia, Wikipedia. Wikipedia classifies the skunk as “North and South American mammals in the family Mephitidae” (“Skunk”, 2019). The extant genera are listed as Conepatus, Mephitis, and Spilogale.
The page for Conepatus, or the Hog-nosed skunk, shows four species. The pictoral and text description on Conepatus ranges shows that only one species, Conepatus chinga, is found in Bolivia (“Hog-nosed skunk”, 2019).

The page for Mephitis says both of its species are exclusive to North America (“Mephitis (genus)”, 2019).

The page for Spilogale says all four of its species are exclusive to North America (“Spotted skunk”, 2019).

Therefore, assuming Bolivia is not known for importing skunks, the next question is whether Conepatus chinga is found on ranches anywhere. And it would seem that the answer to this is no.

Of all the species of skunk, “[o]ne of the least known species is the common hog-nosed skunk, C. chinga” (internal citations omitted; Donadio et al., 2001). “[L]ittle is known about the Andean hog-nosed skunk ecology, including its foods” (Travaini et al., 2006). The University of Michigan’s unofficial zoology encyclopedia says “[m]uch is unknown about the lifespan of Conepatus chinga” (Afflerbaugh, 2002).

My thought is that if you farm an animal you tend to learn how long they live, what they eat, etc. It is hard to imagine such a thing as a C. chinga ranch exists now, let alone when Cecil’s column was written in 1988.

There are some domesticated skunks, but from what I can tell these are of a different, North American species. Some U.S. states legalize domestic skunks but most don’t, and some of those that do so only allow one per person. Canada doesn’t issue permits for the importation of skunks as personal pets (CFIA, 2018). The U.S. Department of Agriculture website didn’t give me a straight answer about importing pet skunks, or live skunks at all (APHIS, 2018).

And then Colibri has said there are no more commercial ranches for fur harvest.

~Max

Afflerbaugh, K. (2002). “Conepatus chinga” (On-line). Animal Diversity Web. Retrieved July 15, 2019 from ADW: Conepatus chinga: INFORMATION

APHIS Pet Travel. (2018). Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Retrieved July 15, 2019 from USDA APHIS | APHIS Pet Travel

Importing or Travelling with Foxes, Skunks, Raccoons and Ferrets as Pets. (2018). Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). Retrieved July 15, 2019 from https://www.inspection.gc.ca/animals/terrestrial-animals/imports/policies/live-animals/pets/ferrets-etc-/eng/1331923269633/1331923405610

Hog-nosed skunk. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved July 15, 2019 from Hog-nosed skunk - Wikipedia

Mephitis (genus). (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved July 15, 2019 from Mephitis (genus) - Wikipedia

Skunk. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved July 15, 2019 from Hog-nosed skunk - Wikipedia

Spotted skunk. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved July 15, 2019 from Spotted skunk - Wikipedia

Travaini, A., Delibes, M. & Ceballos, O. (2006). Summer foods of the Andean hog-nosed skunk (Conepatus chinga) in Patagonia. Journal of Zoology, 246(4). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1998.tb00180.x

9

Just one of the lost secrets of the 20th Century :slight_smile:

10

I can’t help but think it’s an homage to Reggie Perrin. “I didn’t get where I am today by everything smelling of Bolivian unicyclist’s jock-strap.”

11

Could you even get anyone to work there if there was such a place?! A single skunk hit by a car emits a stench that lingers on the highway for a long time. I can only imagine what a ranch full of them would smell like. LOL

12

They probably wouldn’t smell at all. It’s not hard to surgically remove a skunk’s scent glands, and one imagines that would be a routine procedure at a skunk ranch.

13

There was a skunk works in Dogpatch
Where all skunks they were able to catch,
To a Juice they distilled:
Folks with joy, it sure filled –
Sent them soon, though, to town’s booby-hatch.

14

You’re hired! :wink:

15

Ah, the '70’s. Real music.

16

A ranch full of skunks wouldn’t smell any worse than the same number of gerbils, rats or any other animals. They do not stink; however, if you disturb their equanimity they will make you and the neighborhood around smell powerfully. We lived for months with a family of skunks living under our porch. Many times we entered or left to see a skunk on the other end of the porch peacably watching us. In fact I took a flash photo of one in our garbage can at night, without any offensive results. If you smell it, its upset, as one hit by a car would be. I’ve heard of unfixed skunks as pets, although that seems tempting their good humor.

17

What about baby skunks? Babies of other races have trouble controlling their bodily fluids.

~Max

18

Baby skunks start developing their anal glands at the age of a few weeks, and can control the direction of spray at three months. But they still need to release it voluntarily. They might spray in panic, but they don’t let the scent loose involuntarily as a baby animal might urinate or defecate.