Skunk Oil

Skunk oil, also called skunk grease, is fat rendered from the two lateral glands running along a skunk's back, where the animal stores it for hibernation, and it carries minimal odor despite its source. Native American tribes used it as a healing remedy, and the Mi'kmaq of Nova Scotia combined it with red squirrel oil to treat whooping cough. Nineteenth century frontier settlers in the northern United States rubbed it on the chest to fight severe colds, often alongside herbal teas, and early fur traders and explorers valued it highly enough to carry it in their medical kits and pay a premium for it; traditional practitioners in Mexico and the United States continue to use it today.