14 June is National Skunk Day. 10 things you might not know about skunks.
Skunks belong to the family Mephitidae, which means “stink.” There are about 10 different species in the family, native to North America.
A group of skunks is called a surfeit.
These animals are best known for spraying foul smelling stuff from their anal glands when threatened. That said, a skunk will try to avoid having to use the spray if it can, because it only has the capacity for five or six successive sprays and once that is used up, it takes about ten days to replenish. A skunk’s Black and White stripes actually point at the spray glands and act as a warning to any animal which has been caught out before. If that doesn’t deter the potential predator, the skunk will perform a warning dance first. The moves might include stomping the ground or slapping their tail. Some species will do handstands on their front paws. The spray is only used as a last resort.
If they do use it, though, it’s pretty potent stuff. It can cause temporary blindness in the case of a direct hit to the Eyes, as if the stench isn’t bad enough. It is made from thiols, sulphur-based compounds also found in garlic and onions. The Smell can be detected from over a mile away (unless you’re one of the one in a thousand people who can’t smell it) and can linger for weeks. It’s also flammable, not that the skunk makes use of that characteristic.
Skunks are omnivorous, so they’ll eat anything. Their diet includes berries, fungi, nuts, roots, grass, small mammals and Amphibians, Snakes (they are immune to snake venom), worms, eggs and insects, including Bees and Wasps. They have even been known to attack hives, their thick fur protecting them from stings.
They generally don’t wander more than 2 miles/3km from home, although a male skunk might extend his range to up to 5 miles/8km to look for females in the breeding season. A male skunk will mate with numerous females and plays no part in raising the young.
They have powerful front claws which they use for digging and breaking apart dead tree trunks for shelter or to get at tasty things inside.
Their senses of smell and hearing are excellent but they can’t see very well. If something is more than 10 feet/3 metres away, the skunk cannot see it.
They’re actually rather cute and intelligent and so some people believe they make great pets (with their spray glands removed). That said, keeping a skunk as a pet is only allowed in about 17 US states and even then there are restrictions on the type of skunk you can own and you need a permit. It’s legal to have a pet skunk in the UK, but it’s illegal since 2006 to remove the scent glands.
A famous fictional skunk is Pepé Le Pew, a Warner Brothers character depicted as an anthropomorphic French striped skunk, who is constantly in search of love and romance, but other characters run away from him because he stinks. Johnny Depp once said that he imagined Pirates of the Caribbean’s Captain Jack Sparrow as a blend of Keith Richards and Pepé Le Pew.
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