What about the skunk?
Why only the fox or the Holstein? How about another black and white animal!
It was a simple enough proposition. One that everyone assumed would get easy passage in the Legislative Assembly. But, nothing is ever simple in the Island legislature.
Last fall, the Grades 5-6 class from the Montague Consolidated School came before a legislative committee with the idea of having the red fox named as the official provincial animal.
An innocent enough concept seeing as all of the Island’s other native animals such as the deer, bears, and wolves are long gone from our well-cultivated shores. All we are left with, in the native, wild animal department, are foxes, raccoons and coyotes. But, coyotes are recent arrivals.
The red fox can be found in all areas of the Island, rural and urban. They seem a natural choice.
Virtually everyone agreed, and the students were commended for their initiative. Virtually, but, not quite everyone. One might have thought that the last person to stand in the students’ way would be a former minister of education.
But, when a bill to have the red fox named the provincial animal came up for debate, Alan McIsaac, demonstrating the kind of political smarts that saw him elected by a coin toss in the last election, had an amendment. He wanted the legislature to consider the merits of the Holstein cow.
Now Island farmers have every right to be proud of their accomplishments as Holstein breeders. An Island-bred Holstein holds the record as the most expensive Holstein ever sold, going for something like $1.2 million. That’s not chump change and an accomplishment in its own right.
But, you won’t find many Holsteins roaming freely through the woods and ditches of rural P.E.I., and you certainly won’t find any running through the backyards in Brighton, Stratford or Summerside. Even ones that aren’t worth anything close to a $1,000,000.
It should also be noted that though the mighty Holstein has been on the Island scene for well over a century the breed is not native to our fair land.
A suggestion has been made to your humble correspondent, that if non-native animals are being considered as the provincial animal, then perhaps the humble skunk should be a contender.
The skunk, like the Holstein is also an immigrant. It too was brought to the Island early last century by local farmers seeking to broaden their economic base and increase their earnings from fur farming.
In the 1930s, when the bottom went out of the fur industry, rather than bear the expense of feeding their skunks, farmers just set them loose to fend for themselves. And fend they did, very successfully. They quickly multiplied, finding lots to eat. They didn’t have an enemy in the world, other than cars and people.
But, because of the skunk’s odorous defensive system and the nuisance they created by raiding chicken coops for eggs and young birds, the government put a bounty on them. The bounty started at 50 cents and eventually rose to a dollar. To collect, one had to present the skunk’s snout to the appropriate government agent.
Despite costing thousands of dollars, the bounty didn’t diminish the skunk population, and in 1970s it was eliminated. For some, the bounty meant extra cash and they weren’t happy with its abolishment. An MLA of that era, trying to mollify a disgruntled constituent said there was a slight chance it might be re-instated.
The next election when he was soliciting votes, this particular constituent reminded him of that promise. She dragged him to the freezer in her kitchen. It was half full of skunk snouts she’d been collecting in the expectation the bounty would be back.
Like the Holstein, the skunk has made its mark on the Island psyche. If it’s a black and white animal Mr. McIsaac wants, then perhaps he should considered promoting the skunk. While skunks may not be native, they at least run wild, in both town and country.