BOUNTY HUNTERS

Porcupines had a bounty on them at one time. There were easy to trail and kill so a feller could pick up a few extra dollars every once in a while.The wardens would give a lad ten cents for each porcupine nose turned in. However, some smart feller discovered that a porcupine had five noses. They skinned the paws of the animal as well as the nose. When they dried out and wrinkled up they looked just like a porcupine's snout.With this method a porcupine was worth fifty cents instead of ten cents! Another thing these old fellers used to do was put the snouts in an old lard can until they started to rot and stink a little. Then when they turned them in they would say there was more snouts in the can than what there really were. Not wanting to handle the rotten, smelly snouts the wardens usually took their word and paid the bounty accordingly. Those old lads had more tricks to turn a dollar than you could imagine. They had to. Times were tough and a dollar was hard to come by. Of course the wardens were not fooled. They knew what was going on but they were compassionate people. They understood the hard go people were having and sometimes turned a blind eye to what was really going on.