The smell tells: Skunks on move

Driving along a highway in Habersham County in North Georgia the other evening, I suddenly came upon a roadkilled skunk. Unable to avoid the carcass, I ran smack dab over it.

Now, my pickup truck smells faintly of skunk, an odoriferous reminder that the mammal is common in Georgia —- although most of us rarely spot one in the wild. Skunks are seldom seen because they tend to come out only at night, leaving their daytime haunts —- underground burrows and dens in hollow logs and woodpiles —- shortly after sunset and returning at dawn.

Their nocturnal habits, their tendency to roam far afield and the fact that they will eat other victims along the roadside help explain why skunks themselves are so prone to being run over. Getting squashed on the highway, in fact, is a major cause of skunk death in Georgia.

In addition, February and March are prime breeding months for skunks, which also helps explain why so many of them turn up dead on highways this time of year. They may roam as much as five miles at night to find a mate during breeding season. (Skunks mating now will produce an average of four to six “kittens” in May and June.)

If you do see a skunk, it’s hard to mistake it for any other animal because of its striking black and white colors. Actually, Georgia has two skunk species —- the striped skunk and the Eastern spotted skunk, which display different color patterns.

About the size of a house cat, the striped skunk is Georgia’s most common skunk and can be found throughout the state. Called a “polecat” by some, the striped skunk is known for its black fur and characteristic white stripes on its head and down its back.

The much smaller and less common spotted skunk is found mostly in the northern and eastern parts of Georgia. Known also as “civet cat,” the spotted skunk is distinctive because, instead of having stripes along its back, it has a unique pattern of spots and abbreviated stripes over its entire body.

One would think that such bold markings would make skunks easy-to-spot targets for predators. But as anyone who has encountered a skunk on a Georgia highway knows, the animal has a potent weapon —- a pungent, putrid odor. When threatened, it squirts the odor at the would-be attacker with amazing accuracy. Most predators avoid skunks presumably out of fear of being sprayed. An exception is the great horned owl, which regularly preys upon skunks. The owl’s poorly developed sense of smell apparently allows it to feast on skunks without being bothered by the awful smell.

The skunk’s foul musk is produced by two glands near its tail and sprayed —- by voluntary muscle contractions —- as a fine mist or as droplets up to 15 feet away. The odor, likened to a combination of the smells of rotten eggs, garlic and burnt rubber, can be detected downwind up to a mile away.

When first confronted, though, a skunk may not spray right away. A striped skunk will first arch and raise its tail, chatter its teeth and stomp the ground with its front feet. If the would-be enemy doesn’t get the message, the skunk will twist around, raise its tail straight up and squirt away. Spotted skunks will stand on their front feet and discharge their scent directly over their head.

Presumably, the reason for the warning is that skunks carry just enough musk for five or six sprays and would rather not use it all up. It takes up to 10 days to produce a new supply. During that time, the skunk may be left defenseless.

An interesting fact: A skunk will not spray another skunk except during the mating season, when competing males may squirt each other.

In the sky

The moon will be new on Monday night and thus won’t be visible for a couple of nights. But look for the thin crescent moon low in the west just after sunset on Thursday, says David Dundee, an astronomer with the Tellus Northwest Georgia Science Museum. Mercury, Jupiter and Mars are low in the east just before dawn and will appear near the moon Monday morning. Venus shines brightly in the west just after sunset and sets in the west about three hours later. It will appear near the moon Friday night. Saturn rises out of the east around 9 p.m.

SKUNK NOTES

Skunks are omnivores, feeding primarily on small rodents, eggs, insects and their larvae, berries, carrion, and occasionally birds and reptiles.

In some areas of Georgia, skunks are considered nuisances, especially when they den underneath homes, dig cone-shaped holes in yards looking for grubs or spray their smelly chemical on pets.

Skunks also are a significant carrier of rabies, making them a serious potential source of human exposure to the disease.

seabrk@comcast.net