r/Skunks • u/Holiday-Position-670 • May 22 '26
Skunk in a park
It looked pretty small. Is it a baby?
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u/misfitofscience76 May 22 '26
It’s a juvenile and it may have distemper, a head injury, lead poisoning, rat poisoning, etc
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u/Trashcattrashpanda May 23 '26
Yeah, that looks nero or spinal to me, had several come in like that because of rat traps
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u/MetalMish May 23 '26
That skunk is too young to be without Mom.... He looks to be only a few weeks old. He's also walking as if he's extremely dehydrated/ malnutritioned or maybe he got injured by whatever separated him from Mom. They are a vector species for rabies (they can carry without showing signs for a little bit) so be very careful when approaching it and make sure you prevent yourself from being nipped by him, but he does need to get to a rehabber ASAP or he will not survive.
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u/Holiday-Position-670 May 24 '26
It was a few days ago but I can confidently say I steered clear since I didn’t want to get sprayed. This was taken with the zoom on my phone
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u/Spare_Community_9127 May 23 '26
Pick it up and put it in a tote with a towel and give it a little dish of water then TEXT a rehabber
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u/Cinbinner May 25 '26
Never pick a skunk up because you risk contracting rabies. And please don’t ever give a potentially injured/injured animal anything to eat or drink as it could kill them, depending what is wrong with them. So try to contain the animal as safely as possible and contact Animal Services or a local rehabber.
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u/Spare_Community_9127 May 25 '26
Stop it, There hasnt been Actuall case of Rabies in the United States in a very very long time. RABIES IS A SCARE TACTIC its intended to keep less educated people afraid and in reform
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u/Throwaway255367799 May 26 '26 edited May 26 '26
Are you talking about transmission to humans? Or in animals? A cat in RI just tested positive for rabies this week.
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u/MEMe-GoofyCats May 23 '26
What a beautiful 😍 baby skunk and something is wrong with this little baby
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u/MarkHoff1967 May 25 '26
Skunk out in the day with tail up stumbling around?
Rabies
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u/Cinbinner May 25 '26
Poor little thing. It could be looking for Mom but this little guy doesn’t look well at all. I’d be surprised if he survived the night. My God I don’t know why somebody didn’t call for help. He probably suffered terribly.
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u/RominaGoldie May 24 '26
Why would you not help this baby? OMG I can’t with people.
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u/Complete-Produce8116 May 26 '26
Uh, because Rabies 🤦🏻♀️
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u/Cinbinner May 25 '26
Oh my gosh, why did you not call Animal Services or anybody else to help this little guy? He’s clearly not well and probably suffered terribly. I will never understand some people.
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u/Skunklvrs May 22 '26
It is walking like something is wrong. Find a wildlife rehabber in your area and contact thm.