Yipes! Stripes! Skunks and Raccoons

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Of course, the one characteristic that makes skunks of all stripes objects of fear and fascination is their ability to spray an oily, malodorous yellow musk from twin nipples located under their tails. Ordinarily retracted, the squirters pop out when the skunk lifts its tail in alarm. With a squeeze of its sphincter muscles, a skunk can accurately aim jets of the noxious spray eight to 14 feet, and has enough ammo in its grape-size musk glands to fire several times in rapid succession when necessary. Often likened to tear gas, skunk spray contains volatile sulphur compounds that not only smell nauseatingly horrible but chemically irritate the eyes and sinuses, causing headache, tearing, and — with a direct hit to the eyes — temporary blindness.

This explains why skunks, which are otherwise relatively defenseless, have few natural enemies. The great horned owl, mainly because it has little to no sense of smell, is the skunk’s only serious predator. This also explains why, contrary to popular perception, skunks aren’t hair-trigger stink bombs ready to let fly at the slightest provocation. When liquid offense is your only defense, you don’t want to be wandering around on empty.

Skunks, in fact, are notably mild-mannered, and spray only as a last resort and after giving a series of clear warnings. A skunk strolling along with its tail down is no cause for alarm — just keep your distance. But if the animal suddenly faces you directly, raises its tail, chatters its teeth and stamps its front feet — be alarmed. That’s warning one. If you ignore it and the animal turns its butt toward you and raises its tail higher — that’s warning two, get out of there. If you continue annoying the animal, it will bend its body into a U shape so that both its head and rear are facing its target, and fire. This gymnastic contortion is topped only by the spotted skunk, which charges its target, does a handstand on its forepaws, and curls its rear over its head to aim and spray. Check out this photo and this video to see the handstand charge for yourself.

All sorts of myths surround skunks and their spraying: That skunk spray contains and spreads rabies (wrong); that lifting a skunk by its tail prevents it from spraying (don’t try it); that baby skunks can’t spray (they can, at the ripe old age of 8 days, even before they can open their eyes). Likewise, there are myths about techniques for removing skunk spray. Tomato juice and vanilla extract do mask the musky smell, but it soon returns. A dilute solution of chlorine bleach does remove skunk musk, but you can’t use the stuff on pets or colored clothing. Time, and plenty of it, is generally the only safe and effective treatment.

Left to their own devices and natural habitat, striped skunks are easy-going, peaceable creatures. Nearsighted (they can see only about three feet ahead) and mostly nocturnal, they snuffle harmlessly along at night, searching for food. Their natural diet consists mostly of insects such as beetles, grubs, grasshoppers, bees and wasps, and the larvae thereof. But skunks are omnivorous, opportunistic feeders, and given the chance will also gobble birds, eggs, mice and fruit. During the day, they hole up in hollow logs, rock piles or abandoned burrows.

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