She is a founding director of Heart of the River Coalition. Sheryl Myers taught biology and environmental science for 34 years and has worked as a naturalist for area parks. This may be a bit hard to do in a shed since you have to get in there in order to set up. A skunk that appears to be stumbling or disoriented during daytime is sick and should not be approached. Only rarely do they carry rabies. If you or your pet is sprayed, wash with a mixture of 1 quart of 3% hydrogen peroxide, ¼ cup of baking soda and 1 tsp. Since skunks forage at night, they are not too fond of bright lights. Skunks can carry distemper, which is highly contagious and usually lethal. None stockpile food in preparation for the winter’s meager pickings. N-butyl mercaptan can cause temporary burning and blindness. It is produced by two glands, one on either side of the skunk’s anus. None hibernate or migrate to a better climate. It they raise their tail, they’re about to let loose a dose of N-butyl mercaptan, better known as "skunk spray". They only spray as a last resort after they have tried hissing, stamping their feet or baring their teeth and standing up on their rear legs. Skunks are not aggressive unless threatened. Skunks are nocturnal, hunting from dusk to dawn. Males can walk 4 or 5 miles in a night looking for females during the mating season. If one morning you find a series holes 3” to 4” deep in your yard, a skunk could be excavating for grubs there. That aside, do you know enough the skunk to know how to take care of it Do you know what it should eat, and in what amounts. They can be attracted to pet food and garbage as well. Striped skunks are omnivores and like to dine on rodents, grubs (beetle larvae), insects, fruits and berries and small aquatic animals. ►THEN AND NOW: Spring in Indiana 200 years ago looked very different than it does today The young stay with their mother for the next 8 months until it’s time to go make their own dens. After 62 days, she bears a litter of 2 to 10 kits. After mating, the female makes a new den, usually by enlarging an already-existing groundhog cavity or digging under a fallen log, an outbuilding, or a deck. Although skunks usually spray their noxious fluid as a last resort in self-defense, a female will spray to discourage an overly romantic male if she is not “in the mood”. When temperatures begin to rise in the spring, it’s not unusual to catch a whiff of a striped skunk as it wanders its 4-square-mile territory in search of food or mates. ![]() ![]() A group of skunks is called a surfeit the male is called a buck, the female is called a doe and the babies are called kits. Skunks don’t hibernate, but they become less active and tend to spend time sleeping during very cold weather. Female skunks typically spend the winter together in groups of six or seven. While the males tend to live alone, one will occasionally overwinter with a den of females. The striped skunk (Mephites mephitis, Latin for “foul odor”) lives in all 48 contiguous United States from southern Canada to northern Mexico. Striped skunks are the size of house cats. They have a shiny black coat and white coloring on top of their head that divides into two stripes running the length of their body to the tip of their bushy tail.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |