Unusual Pets: Skunks

Skunks are famous for their ability to produce foul smelling odour to defend themselves and to protect their prey from competitors. These mammals belong to the Mephitidae family. Eleven species of Skunks exist in the world today. These species are divided into four genera: Spilogale or spotted Skunks, Mydaus or stink badgers, Conepatus or hog-nosed Skunks and Mephitis or stripped and hooded Skunks. Skunks are found in North America, South America, the Philippines and Indonesia.

Skunks vary from forty centimetres to seventy centimetres in length and from one pound to ten pounds in weight. They have long front claws which help them to dig easily and have short muscular legs which propel their moderately long body in an waddling stride. Commonly, their fur is white and black in color, but there are Skunks with gray, brown and even cream coloured fur. Striped Skunks are striped from birth. Some Skunks have a thick stripe which runs from their tail to the top of their head, while others may have two thin stripes, broken stripes or white spots. Some skunk’s legs are also striped.

Some countries have laws about keeping Skunks as pets. It is legal to have a Skunk as a pet in Great Britain and Canada, but in some states in the United States it is illegal to have them as pets. So, if you live in the United States check with your state authorities before deciding to get a Skunk as a pet. Usually the mephitis genera are preferred as pets because they are more social than most other genera of Skunks. Before selling a Skunk, breeders usually remove the scent glands. Skunks usually live longer in captivity than they do in the wild. Their lifespan in captivity is from ten to twenty years. In the wild their average lifespan is three years with the occasional one living as long as ten years. Keeping Skunks as pets in not new. They were kept as pets by some of the Pilgrims and other early European settlers in the United States and there are reports that some native North Americans also kept Skunks as pets.

Skunks feed on both plants and animals, so they are called omnivorous animals. In addition to plants, they eat insects, earthworms, lizards, frogs, rodents, salamanders, snakes, moles, birds and eggs. When they cannot find meat, they feed on wild fruit and seeds. Some Skunks even feed on garbage in urban areas and this is where they frequently meet and spray dogs, much to the dismay of the dog‘s owner.

Skunks are crepuscular animals (active during twilight). Skunks stay aloof when not breeding, but stay in communal dens in the winter. They do not hibernate in the winter, but become inactive and do not eat on a regular basis. They live in burrows dug by them, man made pits, or natural pits, depending on what they can find in the area where they live. In winter, a huddle, with one male and up to twelve females, will live in a den. They frequently use the same den every year in the winter.

Skunks have superb hearing and smelling capabilities, but their vision is poor. They can not see clearly more than three meters. This is a factor in the numerous Skunks killed in road accidents. According to one study, nearly 50 percent of Skunks die due to road traffic, which is probably why few wild Skunks live longer than three years.

Skunks can carry rabies and it is reported that nearly thirty one percent of them are infected with it. However, there have not been many reported cases of humans catching rabies from a Skunk. The stink they can unleash if threatened is enough to ensure that most humans don‘t get close enough to them to be bitten. However, if you decide to keep a Skunk as a pet, they should be vaccinated to avoid any mishaps.

In the event that you do get bitten by a Skunk, clean the wound thoroughly with an antibacterial solution and water. If the wound is bleeding put a light gauze pad over the bite area and apply an ice pack to slow the bleeding. Seek medical help immediately and call the police or animal control and advise them that there is a possible rabid Skunk in the area. When you arrive at the doctor’s office or emergency department of the local hospital, insist that you be given a tetanus shot. Also request that a test be performed to see whether they can tell if you were exposed to rabies or not. If the Skunk is captured or killed, request that it be tested for rabies.

My mom had a Skunk for a pet when she was a teenager. It was a friendly animal, but even after having its scent glands removed, it still had that lingering musky smell. It’s hard to get friendly with an animal that has that kind of odour. Fortunately for mom, her sense of smell is very limited, so she didn’t notice it, but when dad met “Suzy” he wasn’t all that favourably impressed. A few weeks after mom and dad started dating, mom found a new home for “Suzy” so dad didn’t have to worry about her odour any more. He doesn’t know if all pet Skunks have an odour, because that is the only one he has been around. It could have been that the person who removed the scent glands didn’t do that good of a job.

If you do get a Skunk as a pet, you have to be careful with it because Skunks tend to over eat and if you over feed them they will become obese in a short period of time. This obesity will lead to medical problems, so make sure that you only feed the prescribed amount of food, or you will be faced with large veterinarian bills.

Until next time,

Teia