{"id":470,"date":"2015-11-17T15:59:16","date_gmt":"2015-11-17T15:59:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/?p=470"},"modified":"2015-11-17T15:59:16","modified_gmt":"2015-11-17T15:59:16","slug":"skunk-spray-essay-trappers-tap-into-regions-liquid-gold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/?p=470","title":{"rendered":"Skunk spray essay: Trappers tap into region’s ‘liquid gold’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Striped<\/a><\/p>\n

At $30 an ounce, there is gold in the Susquehanna Valley outdoors \u2014 liquid gold.
\nIt isn\u2019t the kind you\u2019ll find in a Velveeta Shells & Cheese commercial. You\u2019ll need a lot stronger stomach to handle this version of \u201cliquid gold\u201d \u2014 along with a few trapping supplies, a syringe or two and a clothespin for your nose may be useful.
\nThat\u2019s because this extremely valuable fluid is none other than essence of skunk.
\nThe liquid that the black-and-white critter sprays for self-defense can help trappers lure in fox and coyote, among other predators that enjoy a skunky snack every once in a while.
\nIt also is used in certain high-end perfumes. Kind of ironic that the same highly potent substance can be used for two very different things, but that is what makes it so valuable, along with the fact that it isn\u2019t the easiest to collect.
\nOr is it?
\nPat Mitchell, of Middleburg, has been trapping skunks and collecting their essence for decades \u2014 using the liquid to enhance his trapping lures.
\n\u201cI trap the skunk and then walk up to it real gentle. It helps to talk to it a little bit in a calm voice,\u201d he said.
\nMitchell then uses a 4-foot length of PVC pipe with a wooden dowel inside and a syringe to quickly and mercifully inject a lethal substance that works literally in seconds.
\n\u201cThey\u2019re really docile and don\u2019t seem to even notice the needle,\u201d he said.
\nThose who think they can use a gun to kill the skunk before harvesting the essence \u2014 also called skunk quill \u2014 usually find out quickly that method stinks.
\nLiterally.
\n\u201cWhen skunks are dispatched with a gun, they spray 99 percent of the time,\u201d said Jason Gill, a veteran trapper from the Clearfield area. \u201cSkunks rarely spray while in a trap unless approached by another animal.\u201d
\nGill said that a skunk that has not recently sprayed yields approximately a half-ounce of essence. While that may not seem like much, the essence is so potent, that even one tiny drop can wreak havoc with someone\u2019s olfactory senses.
\n\u201cOne drop of skunk quill is enough to make my body and clothing stink without even touching it,\u201d said Gill. \u201cOne tiny drop can be smelled by humans up to 1\/8 of a mile away \u2014 or four city blocks.\u201d
\nGill said the value of essence varies from year to year, but is currently going for $30 an ounce. For those patient and persistent enough to collect enough essence to fill a gallon milk jug, it would be worth $3,840 at that valuation.
\nHowever, at a half-ounce of essence per skunk, you\u2019d need to tap into 256 fully loaded skunks to reach that goal, which is where the persistence would come in.
\nThe oil in the essence is what perfume manufacturers covet because it helps the perfume aroma last for much longer periods of time than what the perfume can alone. Those who have suffered through a few days of roadkill skunk near their home can vouch for that special quality.
\nGill ships his collected skunk essence to trapping lure companies. The largest lure maker in Pennsylvania is Russ Carman lures. Gill also sells the skunk\u2019s pelt, which he said currently goes for $5 each.
\nUltimately, collecting skunk quill may not be the most luxurious way to make a living off the outdoors, but it can be a unique experience for those who are adventurous enough to take on the smell-sacrificing risk.
\nIt is hard to come across gold if you\u2019re afraid to step foot in a mine \u2014 or, in this case, near nature\u2019s most noxious landmine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At $30 an ounce, there is gold in the Susquehanna Valley outdoors \u2014 liquid gold. It isn\u2019t the kind you\u2019ll<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":480,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[493,4,495,496,490,492,491,494,172],"class_list":["post-470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-outdoors","tag-essence","tag-featured","tag-lures","tag-perfume","tag-skunk","tag-skunk-quill","tag-spray","tag-trapping","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=470"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":481,"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470\/revisions\/481"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crosshairscommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}