A skunk isn't exactly a beloved animal; the mass media has ensured that by wildly exaggerating the skunk's identity as a stinky animal to get a few laughs. In reality, though, they are fascinating creatures.
They stand out with their alluring coat of black and white hair, and just like opossums, they are immune to snake venom. They spray a foul-smelling oily liquid, but only when they feel threatened by predators or humans, and that too sparingly, since it takes a whole week to reload the anal glands which produce the liquid. In fact, perhaps conscious of the effects of the deadly weapon that they possess, they will give a clear warning before spraying; they will turn their back to you, stamp their feet and hiss audibly.
What a cool bunch, right? However, just like other members of the animal kingdom, they need to reproduce to propagate their species, and that means they need to love.
The right time to love
February isn't just a month of love for us humans; skunks initiate their mating rituals in this month as well. The mating season for striped, hog-nosed and hooded skunks consists of February and March.
Stinky love
Male skunks are enthusiastic lovers, much like Pepe Le Pew, the romantic striped skunk in Looney Tunes. They will stomp their feet and spray their foul liquid to attract females. They tend to be so engrossed in this activity that they hardly notice anything else; there have been reports of skunks getting hit by cars during the mating season just because they're spraying everything in sight and are completely unaware of the world around them.
Females can be cold though; they will reject unwanted male advances by spraying their foul liquid to repel them. This may be because male skunks are polygamous, and will mate with several females at a time, therefore, the ladies are more careful in choosing their partners.
Giving birth
Female striped skunks have a gestation period of around sixty days, which means that the babies are generally born in March and June. The hog-nosed variety tends to have their babies much later, and sometimes even wait until autumn.
A litter will generally consist of four to seven pups. Once the babies are born, the mother will move from her den to a separate maternal den to rear her young ones. The grass is gathered to provide bedding. The males don't participate in the rearing, presumably because they are busy hunting for food.
Raising the babies
At the time of birth, the young ones are blind and deaf, with a thin coat of short fur. They are nursed in the den for around six weeks before they start joining their mother on excursions outside the den. They are weaned until they are two months of age.
I'm going, Ma!
The young skunks leave their families once they have developed sufficiently, and saunter off in search of new territory. They will usually travel about six to ten kilometers in this pursuit, but they are also known to traverse as much as fifty kilometers.
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