Do you know what baby skunks are called?
Baby skunks are also known as a kit. They have their white stripe when they are born and the baby skunks are really cute.
I bet you can’t think of wild animals that look like a waving black and white flag when walking together as a family?!
A hint: a group is called a surfeit of skunks – did that help you out? I didn’t know that!
We witnessed a “first” on a mid-June evening about 6 pm.
We were traveling along a four-lane, paved county road near Scurlock Farms. A cornfield was on our right and an empty field across the road. What appeared to be a large black trash bag with white on it “blew” onto the road. “It” looked similar to the photo below, but was more bunched up, as it undulated onto and across the road.
A surfeit of skunks, including baby skunks
Animals in Colorado
I am guessing that in that surfeit of skunks there were at least 8 baby skunks, along with mama, and maybe daddy, too!
I was going for my telephone to get a photo, but did not have time. Dan veered into the other lanes to avoid hitting them and we were past them! Can you imagine the smell if we had creamed that many skunks!!
The family of skunks we saw were walking like all of the skunks we have observed in the past – their noses to the ground, rumps in the air, and they walked with a kind of waddle. This really made the white stripes appear to ‘wave” around.
When we returned home along the same route, all had made it safely across the road. We were surprised they did not stay in the cornfield as it was nearing nightfall. Skunks are nocturnal animals and hunt and forage at night. I figured they would have had more food supply in the corn field, but obviously mama thought better.
Can you guess which critter likes to raid a compost pile at night?
When my mom and dad were still living in Rocky Overlook at Scurlock Farms, they had a compost pile below the upper patio. One night daddy was sitting in his chair by the sliding glass doors when he heard something scratching. He looked down, and it was a family of skunks, including the baby skunks, that had come up onto the patio and it appeared they were wanting to come into the house!
I feel pretty sure they had come up to raid the compost pile and see what new goodies had been deposited to it during the day, and bugs on the glass attracted them to the sliding patio door. Mama and daddy let them have their way that night!
Why does a skunk spray?
A skunk will spray when it feels threatened or startled, and baby skunks will spray more frequently after only a few weeks old, as they are startled more easily.
A friend accidentally caught a skunk in her enclosed workshop in a live trap. I would have been petrified trying to deal with a live skunk, but she slowly walked to the cage holding a large blanket and dropped it over the cage. She was then able to pick the cage up and move it to the outdoors where she could deal with the skunk.
A proven home-brew recipe to remove skunk odor from a sprayed pet.
Check out the link below to find a recipe developed by a chemist in 1993 which people that have used it say really works. Some, where the skunk population is high, keep the ingredients in a bucket along with rubber gloves in their garage for the next “skunk attack”.
I know this simple formula works as a guest’s dog encountered a skunk while out roaming around one night. We washed Empress down with the ingredients I had on hand for just this purpose and voila! the odor was gone!
Effective Home brew recipe for skunk spray treatment
Can you guess a favorite entree for owls?
You guessed – skunks! Owls don’t smell. so they are not bothered by the aroma.
We would love to hear your story of a skunk experience – good or bad!
If you or your pet has had an experience with a skunk, please share your story with us in the comment section. Some may be humorous now, though probably not so funny at the time!
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