Skunk Snouts

Skunk Noses


Proving that there are regional differences, I now share a story that was told to me at Pleasant Grove United’s fall corn roast. Beulah, the organist of the church and church matriarch (in the best sense of the word) shared this gem with me.

When she was growing up as a girl on the Island, there was a real problem with skunks. To help allieviate the problem, people were offered $.10 per skunk snout. Now to paint a picture, Beulah, is a woman who certainly has a clear understanding of how things should be. Not a hard-nosed church woman, she is simply a strong woman who is clear about what should and should not happen in the church. And so it just amazed me to hear of a young Beulah sets multiple traps to catch skunks. On her way to school she would collect the traps that were full and take them to the river to drown the skunks. She would re-set the traps and head to school. She had a tin full of salt that she would put the skunk snouts in, saving them up so “it was a good pay-out” I nearly fell out of my chair! The colourful past of Beulah! Who would have thunk? Skunk Snouts.