Nature's Notebook: The Skunk - Expert in Pest Control

While daylight wakens much of the wild world, there are some animals as the lowly skunk that are part of nature's night crew. Leaving their sleeping dens in the evening, skunks emerge to forage for plants and small animals that, if not held in check by predators as skunks, would make our daytime enjoyment of nature marred by too many mice, grasshoppers, and other insects. How has nature prepared the omnivorous skunk for its role in the food chain? Why is spring an important season in their life cycle? What is a reason to be wary of this small mammal besides its spray defense?

The skunk's bold black and white fur is a pattern that its predators quickly learn to avoid. Even newborn skunk babies, or kits, born absent of fur have the black and white pattern coloring their skin. The pattern warns of the offensive, irritating, oily musk that skunks can spray, often into the eyes of the offender, with accuracy up to seven feet and even up to distances of twenty feet. The spray is forced out of nozzles on two glands under its tail that the skunk can aim by curving its body into a U-shape facing the predator with its head and also facing its upturned tail in the same direction.

Spraying an enemy is a last resort and only happens if the encroaching animal does not heed less noxious warnings. A skunk has a good sense of hearing and smell but is like a near-sighted person in only seeing well about 10 feet. If running away is not an option, a threatened skunk will stomp its feet and scratch at the ground with its long claws while arching its back. If the intruder is still clueless, it will hiss, clack its little, sharp teeth, and raise its tail as a warning flag. This can happen quickly and a skunk about to spray can very quickly turn around into spraying position and decide to teach the often young predator a lesson in nature's warning patterns. Our hunting dog had this lesson, and it was very difficult to clean her up as well as want her around while the skunk scent lingered on her fur.

Besides defense a skunk uses its spray to mark territory or attract females during the mating season. It is hard to believe an animal can find this scent attractive, but at this time of year it is like the finest cologne for the females and can travel for more than a mile. Its thick-skinned paws are able to roll and crush bees, wasps, and caterpillars to kill them before eating them. The rolling removes any sharp spines some caterpillars have. Its long front claws can overturn leaves and topsoil to look for insects buried in the upper surface as we have seen this spring in one area of our lawn. I prefer grub removal by skunks to pesticides, but we do need to beef up our lawn care to give the grass a fighting chance.


Spring is the time skunks emerge from their long periods of winter sleep. It is not hibernation since they can wake and come out during thaw periods to feed and drink, but food is much more available now. Bulking up on mice and other small mammals as well as birds and bird eggs helps in their own reproduction. After mating, the male is out of the picture with the female raising her one to twelve kits until three months when they can begin to get some of their own food and defend themselves.

An even more important reason to admire skunks from a long distance or from photos is the potential for their carrying rabies. Skunks are not aggressive by nature, but one that is acting out of character may be sick with rabies or another disease. It varies by the population, but the striped skunk, the most widespread skunk species in North America, is more likely to be infected, along with raccoons and foxes, with rabies than bats which often get a bad rap in this. Skunks each year make up between 20 and 30 percent of all reported rabies cases in the United States and Canada. Despite their odor being only pleasant for another skunk and the potential to carry serious disease, the skunk has an important place as a busy pest exterminator in the nights of Nature's Notebook.
