![]() ![]() ![]() Although you are often able to detect the telltale smell of a skunk before it gets too close, thus avoiding the risks, sometimes there may be no warning that a skunk is nearby. Since skunks tend to be more active at dawn and dusk, avoid taking your dog for a walk in wooded areas or letting your dog out in the yard during these times of the day. How can I lessen the chances of my dog meeting a skunk? The mother skunk is very protective of her kits, and will spray at any sign of danger to them. The babies or kits are weaned when they're about 2 months of age, but stay with their mother until they are 6-12 months old. Male skunks do not participate in the rearing of their young. Skunks mate in the early spring and the females are pregnant a little over 2 months. Many skunks will select their home based on convenient access to a food source, that may be an ample supply of grubs and insects in the lawn, a handy compost heap, a convenient garbage bin, or a ready-to-eat buffet from your dog's or cat's food dishes. Skunks are opportunistic omnivores, which means that they can thrive on a wide variety of foods, and will eat whatever is available to them, including grains, fruits and berries, insects, mice, birds, rabbits, and eggs. In populated areas, skunks are often content to make a home in your garden shed, beneath your deck, or in the crawl space under your cottage. In the wild, most skunks live in a den that they dig in the ground, but they may also happily make their home in a tree stump, woodpile, cave, rock pile, or abandoned building. In the warmer months, they tend to be most active around dawn or dusk, although they may be out foraging for food at other times of the day or night. During the winter months, skunks are generally less active and eat rarely they usually will hibernate for short periods of time. Whether you live in a residential jungle or spend time in cottage country, the odds of meeting up with a skunk increase in the warmer months of the year. When or where is a skunk encounter likely to happen? Skunks are capable of ejecting their spray across a distance of several feet (some sources say up to 5 meters or 15 feet). If the threat persists, the skunk will take aim and fire its spray at the target. Before unleashing its repugnant spray, most skunks try to deter the threatened attack by hissing, stamping its feet, and arching its tail high over its back. The distinctive color and markings of skunks acts as an effective visual warning to animals that have had a previous skunk encounter however, this visual warning is ineffective to 'inexperienced' dogs. ![]() However, if a skunk becomes alarmed or is threatened by another animal or a person, it will use the spray as a defensive weapon. Skunks are naturally very docile animals and rarely take the offensive. This is the reason why skunk odor becomes more pungent when the animal becomes wet. Although thioacetates are usually less smelly than thiols, they are readily converted into thiols when they are mixed with water. ![]() Most thiols bind strongly and rapidly to skin proteins. These compounds are thiols or thioacetates. Chemically, skunk spray contains as many as seven different volatile compounds (compounds that readily become gas) that are responsible for its repulsive smell. The secretion itself is a yellow oil that will cling to most surfaces that contacts like all oils, it does not mix with water. The sacs are merely pouches that store an extremely foul smelling secretion produced by glands that line the sacs.Īlthough the actual chemical composition of skunk spray is primarily of interest only to chemists and biologists, it is necessary for the average dog owner to understand a little about the nature of skunk spray in order to neutralize it effectively. Skunks have a pair of specialized sacs located in their anus each sac is connected to the outside by a small duct that opens just inside the anus. If your dog has been sprayed and there is redness of the eyes, lack of vision or squinting, we need to deal with it immediately. Outside of the obvious odor, dogs can get other problems when sprayed. If I knew what I know now, I would have saved my parents a bit of money on tomato juice. Needless to say, the odor was present for a long time. My own dog chased a skunk into our garage. Growing up in upstate New York, I had much exposure to skunks and dogs who made the mistake of getting to close to them. ![]()
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