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About Skunks
Appearance
Skunks exists as mammals famous for their knack in
spraying a fluid with an intense odor. Each
different type vary in color, such ascream,
black-and-white, gray or brown or cream, but each
one has a warning coloring. A skunk can weigh from
0.5 to 8.2 kilograms with an elongated body length
ranging from 40 to 94 centimeters. They have
relatively small, well-muscled hind legs and
extended front nails for burrowing. The majority
have furs colored white and black, but all are
streaked from the day they were born. They might
have one thick streak across their tail and back,
or two tinnierstreaks, or a string of spots in
white and fragmented stripes like the spotted
Florida skunks.
Biology
Skunks stay in famous for their dual smell glands
in both sides of their anus, which they use by way
of a defense weapon. These glands yield a mix of
chemical containing sulfur that has an extremely
offensive scent. The smell of this fluid exists
amply strong to hold off potential assailants,
such as bears. In addition, this smell is
difficult to get rid from clothes. The muscles
foundby the side of these scent glands permit them
to squirt with a great degree of correctness and
as much as three meters from where they are
situated. The scent, aside from the squirt
causingtemporary loss of sight and irritation, is
adequatelystrong to be identified by the nose of a
human to a maximum distance of a kilometer and a
half. Skunks customarily do not squirt on other
Florida skunks, aside from males during the
breeding season. If they battle over home space at
autumn, skunksfight with their claws and teeth
only. Meanwhile, most American predators,
likebadgers, wolves and foxes, seldom confront
skunks, apparently out of dread of being squirted.
On the other hand, the horned owl and dogs, are
the reckless hunters of skunks.
Life Cycle
Skunks, polygamous by nature,breedatthe onset of
spring. Thus, it is normal for a male to mate with
two or more female skunks. May is the month when
the majority of the skunks give birth. So, it is
common to see female Florida skunks excavating a
hole to contain theiraverage litter of six kits.
They exist placental with a pregnancy period of
around nine weeks. Skunks are born deaf, blind,
and protected by a smooth fur layer. Their eyes
starts to open only after about 21 days after
delivery. They are weaned around 60 days after
nativity, but usually remain with their mom till
they are prepared to breed, at around a year old.
As a result, their mother stays protective of
them, spraying at whatever sign of peril. In
contrast, the male takes no participation in the
raising the kits.The lifespan of a wild skunk
ranges from one to seven years, while in
captivity, a skunk can live for around 10 years.
Habitat
Striped skunks remain native to the northern part
of America. They can, however, be seenthroughout
the US, in northern Mexico, and central Canada.
Other skunk species, like the hog-nosed and
spotted skunks, can be observed from Canada to
southern and central America. Skunks exists common
within suburban parts. Frequent combats with
canines and similar domestic creatures, and the
odor release whenever a skunk is involved in a
vehicular accident, have caused many legends
about the elimination of the skunk smell. Perhaps,
because of theorganicstructure of the squirt, most
household mixtures are useless,apart from remedies
capable ofdestroying thiols.
Diet
Skunks remain omnivorous, meaning they eat both
animal and plant materials, and change their
foodswith the changing of the seasons. They
consume eggs, moles, snakes, salamanders, grubs,
larvae and insects, earthworms, small rats,
lizards, frogs, and birds. They likewise commonly
have berries, nuts, roots, fungi, leaves and
grasses. In stable areas, they also go for the
garbage of humans and even cat food. Sometimes,
skunks similarly act as foragers by eating rodent
and bird carcasses left by other wild life. Skunks
normally dig pits in neighborhoods as they search
for worms and grubs. Skunks stay among the
principal predators of honeybees. Relying upon
their heavy fur to shield them from bee bites,
they scratch the frontage of beehives and gobbles
up guard bees coming out of the hive.
Behavior
Skunks are solitary and crepuscular animals
whenever not mating. In colder areas, however,
they gather inside communal holes for heat. During
daytime, they lodge in dens, which they dig using
their mighty front nails. Skunks though are not
real hibernators during winter, yet they stay
inside their den for lengthy periods, remaining
generally lazy and rarely feeding. Although About
Skunks skunks have outstandinghearing and smelling
senses, they cannot see anythinggreater than three
meters away. For this reason, they are always
vulnerable to die through road accidents.
We service the following areas: Boca
Raton, Bradenton,
Cape Coral, Fort
Myers, Fort
Lauderdale, Gainesville,
Jacksonville, Lakeland,
Melbourne, Miami,
Naples, Ocala,
Port Saint Lucie, Saint
Augustine, Sarasota,
Tampa, and West
Palm Beach
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