Skunk Reference Photos, please help if you can share

What are you needing in the reference line on skunks? Face body or what?

I will tell you that not all skunks show their fangs. Some do some dont. Some have broad face and some pointed faces. Some are just ugly faces and others pretty

 

Just mounted the second one this week. Here the skunk rutt i on and good road kills are easy to find. Its tough to drive past a good skunk and leave $650.00 laying on the road.

 

Speaking of skunks. I have only dealt with one skunk before and it was a spotted skunk. But when i fleshed it, i found something very odd. The hair roots themselves seemed to penetrate into the fatty layers of the hide. To the point to where it seemed like i had to cut through hair just to get the fat out. Is this typical of skunks? I have never seen it with any of the other small mammals i have done. I am probably doing a poor job of explaining the strange hair thing, but im getting ready to start another spotted skunk, and i figured this was a good opportunity to talk about this. Thanks

Chris

 

If you are gettign that deep you are to deep into the hide, it is a fine line on skunks. YOu will be lucky to get enough hide paste all over the body to hold the hair in as it dries. I did that too so it it experience speaking. Its the guard hairs. Yea I had a very ugly skunk from that one.

The other problem with skunks is the stink is not just int he scent glands and the fat pockets in the anal area but also in the fat you are talking about.

I have found it best to not freeze the skunk if possible. flesh and salt. I use my eager beaver fleshing machine and then wash, then use a fine wire wheel on a dremel tool on a low speed. Watch closely when you see the hair butts stop. YOu will need to wash that again using a fine wire brush and Dawn soap. You will have to split the tail and the smell is heavy in the fat in the tail too. I have tried the peroxide, bakiing soda and Dawn it does nto work any better than down alone.

 

what else you will find is skunk faces are different and you and I, sure you can get buy in a mount, but be sure you have reference fro the skunk you have. you will see skinny faces, wide faces, heavy browed faces, some have up turned noses. Soem may show canines while others will not.

One thing I have found is the rutting male skunks, will back up to brish to mark their territory and rub the back of their back legs on that brush. This nromally is happening after trapping season is over but the males do mark or may its like deer that they are leaving scent for the females.

Some may rub the hair from the area behind the read knees or may even be raw and sore and red almost bloody. I think they may is some cases pee on their legs and rub that on branches and brush.

Over the last 10 or 12 years I have probably studied skunks 4000 hours or more. I had three breeder pairs at one time.

Some females may not survive their first heat cycles. I had two of the five females die from not gettign bred.

You think cats get loud when mating, skunks have their own language much like using a kazzoo. and Zipp Zriipping sounds.

The males can get violent and kill each other some times not spraying as they fight to the death.

Anyone who says they have been bitten by a skunk has possibly only been nipped. When they bite I mean really bite they can crush your thumb or fingers. Other wise yet the canines will break skin bringing blood, but a real bite is bone crushing to humans.

 

MORE PICS

 

More

 

One of the funny things about skunks in pens. they dont smell nearly as bad as foxes. If you have a few foxes in pens, you will think that skunks have sprayed. When I was raising skunks a few years back, even the UPS man would bring his kids by to see them. He also delivered to a family who was raising grey and red foxes, he would talk about how skunks were spraying the foxes.

Skunks dont like to spray, they will stomp, then they will slide back, they do a almost warning dance rather than spray. When they do spray they can shoot one side, or both sides. Plus they aim!! Yes they can aim the nozzles.

 

Skunks only spray as a last defense, it take about 3 days to replace.

Once you become friendly with skunks, you will find they are very OCD and some will spray just because you piss them off. Yes you deny them they will walk away, you thik its over and then it happens, you see in almost slow motion the anal opening open up and you see the red rocket exhaust pipes and its to late.

 

I do have some other friends. This is Baxter. He was not friendly until I sat down with him and worked with him a while.