Skunk

The skunk is the most easygoing of all of our exotic mammals.

Our skunk (Stinky) lives in his own world and does exactly what he wants. Stinky sleeps in a little shed at the back of the garden, where he normally sleeps throughout the day. If he wants, he can walk around the garden or come inside, but he usually only does this in the evenings. Skunks sleep a lot in the winter, and ours is only awake for a few hours around meal times.

Skunks are more active in the spring and then they are awake early in the morning. After a few hours of nosing around the garden, Stinky loves nothing more than curling up on your lap to sleep. Our stinky is a real lapdog, he will not rest until he is on the sofa with us. He nestles between us and cannot be persuaded to leave, however, as soon as he hears a packet of crisps or nuts being opened he is wide awake and will not leave you alone. A skunks love goes through the stomach! Because when a skunk is not sleeping, he is eating. We even had to buy a different fridge because Stinky used to go and get his own food if it took too long. He also knows which cupboards have food in them because he checks those doors everyday.

A skunk can be kept with other animals as long as they leave it alone. Our mink  has tried to get the skunks attention on a few occasions but was bitten into stopping . Our skunk is very timid and as soon as there are strangers in the house, he goes to his shed immediately. A skunk can be housetrained to use a litter tray , however Stinky sometimes goes in the house (probably due to laziness) if he has been inside too long.

We are very happy that Stinky is not a digger anymore. When he was young, he ploughed our whole garden but now he is an adult he has stopped. Now we can let him wander around the garden and he does not even go near the plants. There are skunks that keep digging and you cannot let them wander around the garden.

Skunk food consists mainly of vegetables and fruit, dog biscuits and one day old chicks. They also love mice, which is why we don’t have any. We think that skunks are a fairly easy animal because they do not have to be kept busy like the mink or the raccoon, they just do what they want.