Skunk FAQ
Skunk
The skunk is a mammal best known for their ability to excrete a strong, foul-smelling odor. The most common fur color for skunks is black-and-white, but some may be brown, gray, or cream-colored. From birth, all skunks are striped. It may be a single thick stripe across the back and tail, two thinner stripes, or a series of white spots and broken stripes. A few may even have stripes on their legs. Depending on their species, a skunk will vary in size from about 15 to 37 inches, and can weigh anywhere from 1 pound to 18 pounds. They have an elongated body with fairly short muscled legs, and long front claws primarily used for digging.
Skunks are nocturnal, and during the day they will be sheltered in a burrow that they dig with their front claws, natural hollows, or in man-made structures as the opportunity arises. Skunks are omnivores, and their diet will vary from fruits, berries, nuts, insects, small rodents, amphibians, roots, grasses and eggs. Skunks also tend to dig holes in lawns in search of grubs and worms. In urban areas, skunks will also seek human garbage, and less often can be seen as scavengers, eating bird and rodent carcasses left by other animals.
When not breeding, skunks are solitary animals, but can be seen in communal dens for warmth in colder areas, and will often reuse the same winter den for hibernation.
Typically skunks mate in spring, and after a gestation period of about 66 days, a litter of four to seven babies, known as Òkits,Ó are born, usually in May. Skunks are typically short-lived animals. Fewer than 10% will survive for more than three years.
A skunks vital senses are their sense
of smell and hearing, but have extremely poor vision. They cannot clearly see anything beyond three meters, making them vulnerable to road traffic. Nearly half of all skunk deaths are caused by humans, as traffic accidents, or victims of shootings and poisoning.
Skunks have scent glands, which they use as a defensive weapon. A skunk will have two glands, one on either side of the anus, that produce a mixture of sulfur-containing chemicals that makes a highly offensive smell that is usually described as a mixture of rotten eggs and burnt rubber. The odor is strong enough to ward off potential attackers, including bears, and can be difficult to remove from clothing. Skunks have muscles near the scent glands that allow them to ÒsprayÓ with high accuracy as far as 7 to 15 feet away, and can cause irritation and even temporary blindness.
A threatened skunk will first use other means to deter potential enemies, often including an elaborate routine of hisses, foot stamping, and raising its tail in a threatening manner.
Many skunks may carry rabies, a lethal disease that is carried in the saliva and transmitted by bites. skunks should not be approached or handled except by professionals.
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