A Blog From The Bog: Valentines Day for Skunks

Romance can be a dangerous thing, especially if you are a skunk! Have you noticed how many poor, flattened, skunks there are on the road this time of year? (Feb-April) That is because February, the month of love, is the beginning of the mating season for the striped skunk.

Here in Texas, it is in full swing and you can’t help but notice the sad uptick in skunk highway fatalities. If we were to take a survey, I would wager the dearly departed would be 100% male. For such is the fate of many a male who swaggers out to find a mate. Whereas his normal lifestyle would generally find him no more than a ½ mile or so from his home territory, when it is time to find a Valentine, he may travel up to 5 miles a night. And in the course of those miles, he often has to cross many a road. Sadly, his one means of defense, his spray, is no match for a car and so, our Romeos search often ends in tragedy. Who remembers the hit song, (can you believe it was a hit!) “Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road”? A musical tribute to the dangers of love for a skunk!

By nature, skunks are both shy and solitary. In the winter, especially in colder climes, skunks will hole up in their cozy den for weeks at a time. The females either enjoy each others company (sound familiar?) or just find warmth in numbers, for you may find 5 or 6 females in a burrow together with last year’s young. Males, however, are solitary (also sounds familiar) and come out of their burrows before the females do in search of Mrs. Right.

To be honest, he may search out many Mrs. Rights, for skunks are polygamous and once the next generation has been secured, he is on his way to find the next Mrs. Right. The females seem to like it this way, for if the male were to try and come around after the kits were born she would aggressively chase him away. (No comment!)

In defense of skunks, let’s note that they are, for the most part, slow moving animals, without the best sense of sight or smell or hearing for that matter. Touch is their best sense. And an animal like that, needs a decent defense if it is to survive. And do they ever! Musk that not only smells bad, but can temporarily blind the attacker if it lands in its eyes, and because it is oil based, the scent will be on that animal (how well we dog owners know this) for a long time! Their black and white coat, easily seen in the dark, is a warning, “Remember me? Don’t mess with me or you’ll be sorry!”

And their musk is precious to them; they would rather not waste it, so they do give a clear warning. First they will stamp their feet, maybe even click their teeth, “Back off, I am warning you!” You and I, most mature coyotes and fox will do just that. It is the inexperienced young animal or not too bright dog that will keep approaching.

Next, the tail goes up, it may back up a step or two. “Foolish enough to come closer?” Then, it does a little handstand and with its back to you, but its eyes keeping you in sight, it sprays the oily musk with great accuracy up to 15 feet.

The result is usually in the favor of the skunk. As the dog is yelping and clawing at its face, the skunk can waddle away, unharmed. Too bad cars don’t have the same reaction.

As a public safety announcement, please drive carefully in this season of skunk love. Remember, the scent is as hard to get off your car as it is off your dog. Although many of you may think skunks are a nuisance, for instance, when they decide to den under your porch, remember that they also do us a great service of insect control, and carrion removal etc. When rabies hit the Cape a few years ago, and the skunks took a big hit, my yard that had been kept free of grubs, started to have the telltale yellow patches. Oh no, my skunks must have died!