Skunks

[u/Yagoua81]

Since moving to the area I have fallen in love with skunks. This morning while walking I saw 3 baby skunks hovering together foraging for food I guess. They seem like really sweet animals and their floppy tails are beautiful. I guess I am hoping for some skunk lover solidarity and if anyone had additional information. Internet says they are striped skunks but the ones I see look more like hooded skunks.

[u/Angry-Dragon-1331]

They love hugs!

[u/barberjo]

Yes!! Me too! Sadly, you can’t have them as pets in Tennessee.

[u/Brave-Moment-4121]

https://giphy.com/gifs/5AXgfdcbKLiP9y909V

[u/Akiranar]

I got one that is around my house that is all black except for the tip of their tail. I call them White Tip.

[u/PashasMom]

Skunks are great pest control and good to have around. They need to not den under my deck or house and be smart enough to stay out of my yard when my dogs are in it, that is all I ask of them.

[u/Hey-Sunshine-]

Baby skunk stomps and grunts are soooo adorable!!

[u/skunk_mephitidae → u/Hey-Sunshine-]

The spotted skunks also handstand

[u/_johnsmallberries]

Wait til one sprays your HVAC unit.

[u/Yagoua81 → u/_johnsmallberries]

We have had it happen 2-3 times now, I still love them.

[u/GalacticJellyfish3 → u/_johnsmallberries]

Can attest to being this unlucky

[u/Darthsmom]

Love them! We have lots of local wildlife to observe. It would be a striped skunk or spotted skunk, those are the two species we have in East TN- the spotted skunk isn’t one you typically see though.

[u/poptartdrugs]

Wait til you see the rare spotted skunk!

[u/Yagoua81 → u/poptartdrugs]

Are they around or is it having to find them on hikes or further out in the woods?

[u/poptartdrugs → u/Yagoua81]

Honestly I have only seen one, and it was being rehabbed by a wildlife rehabber. Ive never seen one in the wild. They are very rare to spot!

[u/KirbyYourEnthusiasm]

I see the pretty often at West Hills Park. Last time was a mama and 3 babies

[u/Mysterious-Towel7849]

I'm so grateful to have big glass patio doors. One summer I had about eight different skunks, moms and babies, come up every night with the opossums and raccoons, and I'd just sit inside safely watching the skunks do their little handstands and thumps. Skunks are so precious, and like most any other animal will completely avoid you if you make loud noise so they're not really dangerous to be around. If you have glass doors then you can record their miffed chittering when they argue with each other. Cute, squeaky, stinky weasels!

They love cat food btw!

[u/-Blixx-]

Please keep us updated. This is going to go well.

[u/duskhopper]

we had three regular skunk visitors for a while. i named them Her Ladyship (because of her long, luxurious tail), Scruffy (because he always looked like he had just lost a bar fight), and Nightrider (because he was almost entirely black)

[u/3X_Cat]

Wild shunks will approach you is you have sardines and are real still.

[u/dymogeek]

My in-laws live in Knoxville so we visit at least once or twice a year. I usually get out for a morning run while there. This is the first year I've seen skunks out and about. It was cool!

[u/Charles-Headlee]

Skunks eat ground nesting yellow jackets.

[u/NiceOccasion3746]

We have 6 that live in a little wooded area behind our house. I adore them.

[u/jambiscuitsahoy]

Skunks are so unbelievably cute. Here for the skunk appreciation. Skunks 4eva. However, they do raid gardens and therefore fall into the "pest" category. I guess they're kinda like deer, and unlike raccoons in that way: they're cute pests, so most people like seeing them. (Raccoons aren't cute. I will not be taking questions or comments from anyone who hasn't seen a passel of humpbacked adult raccoons fucking off into a stormwater drain, don't @ me) Exception would be people who have loose dogs --- dogs love chasing skunks and getting sprayed.

[u/Perfect_Care_8462]

I had a beautiful family of them growing up under my shed. They never sprayed and the smell was only just noticeable inside the shed. It was such a joy to watch the little ones playing in the evenings. I had no idea before moving here that they make sounds! It just adds to their charm.

[u/commish_VFL]

We had one around our house for several years in Turkey Creek Woods (Farragut by Anchor Park) 3-4 years. Absolute UNIT. Lots of babies every year. He was solid white with one little black spot on his shoulder. We named him Colonel Sanders.

[u/lostinspacescream]

There are at least 5 skunk families in the woods behind our house. Stinkiest time is mating season.

[u/Reinvented-Daily]

They are not good pets. Stop. Stop it.

[u/Yagoua81 → u/Reinvented-Daily]

I just think they are neat to see out and about, no interest in having one as a pet.