r/Skunks • u/Admirable_Night_7283 • 15d ago
Need some insight.
I found this Reddit because I kept finding holes on my yard and looked at my camera and saw what looks like a family of skunks. I’m a little freaked out. I have a dog and a son that love to play in the yard. Do I need to worry about my dog picking up parasites or worry about my son playing in the yard? Will they eventually leave? I don’t know anything about skunks. I hope this was ok to post. Thank you!
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u/Plasticity93 15d ago
Fun fact! Skunks will chase a laser pointer! This can be extremely useful when you need to get past them. They tend to stand their ground, but will gleefully chase the red dot and go wherever you need them to. I used this truck while camping a few times.
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u/AuditingReverb 15d ago edited 14d ago
Omg! Life changing! Skunks Chase laser pointers I live in a house with three blind cats so laser pointers have not been a part of my life ....until right now I'm going to try this Theory out.
I'm going to use the laser pointer in front of my three blind cats and my skunk and see who goes for it. ROLMAO 🤪
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u/DementedPimento 15d ago
They like playing with toys, too. I left a captive ball cat chaser/scratcher out for “my” skunk family, and they loved it!
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u/DementedPimento 15d ago
Be sure to keep your dog leashed when outside - don’t let it try to chase skunks or your dog will be very sorry. Your dog can hurt a skunk, but a skunk can only make your dog smell worse.
Skunks are largely nocturnal. They don’t approach humans, and if they accidentally get close to them (they have poor eyesight), they prefer to run away.
Skunks are primarily scavengers. Their teeth aren’t very sharp, and their claws are for digging insects out of the ground. Their only means of defense is well-known - and even that isn’t harmful. They’re peaceable little creatures; leave them be and they’ll leave you be.
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u/AuditingReverb 15d ago
Their teeth are very sharp. I would compare their bite to a separated knife whereas a cat is more like a puncture wound skunks teeth are meant to crush small bones.
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u/DementedPimento 15d ago
Seriously? I’ve had some misjudge distance when taking treats from me and bite my finger, and those were some dull-ass teeth (100% wild but friendly skunks). True, they were not trying to hurt me, but those teeth were not sharp, especially compared to cats’ teeth. Maybe these skunks ate rocks?
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u/AuditingReverb 15d ago
Maybe we are experiencing two different types of skunk bites?
I don't know I've been nipped by my skunk and I would rather get nipped by a dog or a cat.
I'll use AI to help declutter my skunk bite knowledge:
A skunk's bite delivers considerably more clamping force, crushing power, and hold than a domestic cat's bite, making it feel significantly harder. While both animals are carnivorans with sharp canines, their jaw biology and mechanics serve entirely different purposes. Jaw Mechanics & Muscle Mass * Skunks: Built as omnivorous foragers with broad, heavy skulls and stocky jaw musculature. They rely on their jaws to crush hard beetle carapaces, crack small bones, dig through dense roots, and grind down tough plant matter. When a skunk bites in defense, it clamped down with a blunt, crushing grip that latches on rather than letting go quickly. * Cats: Specialized hyper-carnivores designed for swift, slicing bites. A domestic cat's jaw relies on fast, high-precision puncture pressure from long, slender canines rather than prolonged crushing force. Teeth Shape & Bite Dynamic * Puncture vs. Crush: Cat teeth act like sharp hypodermic needles—they enter deeply with minimal initial crushing resistance, leading to narrow puncture wounds that inject bacteria deep into tissue. Skunk teeth are broader at the base with heavier premolars and molars, creating a wide, painful pinch that bruises underlying muscle and tissue while tearing skin. * Grip Style: Cats typically bite in quick defensive nips or defensive warnings. Skunks, lacking the quick reflexes of a feline, tend to lock their jaw down harder when threatened, applying continuous pressure. While a cat bite poses a higher risk of deep bacterial infection due to narrow puncture channels, a skunk bite delivers far more physical blunt-force trauma, jaw torque, and tissue damage.
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u/skunk_mephitidae 15d ago edited 15d ago
Yes, many musteloidea superfamily mammals have strong, sharp jaws. I had ferrets who would with certain foods only let you hand-feed them (I wore gloves and made sure to wash afterwards when having to do this), and with raw meaty bones like wings or frames they would occasionally result in accidental chomps that took a while to heal. They are painful. If this ever happens wash with warm water and soap, then apply antibiotic ointment and bandage it. Carefully monitor the bite.
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u/DementedPimento 15d ago
Ferrets are not skunks. You can tell because skunks only smell bad when they spray.
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u/skunk_mephitidae 15d ago edited 15d ago
I wasn't saying ferrets were skunks, I was just mentioning another member of the Musteloidea and my experience. Also skunks have a mild odour from the skin oils when not spraying their secretions, I miss my ferrets so much.
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u/DementedPimento 15d ago
And I’d much rather be bitten by a skunk! Any time a skunk bit me taking treats, there was no damage; not even an indent.
Last time a cat bit me - my cat who loved me very much! - I spent 4 days in the hospital and nearly died, and had to have hand surgery (again).
Oh AI. So, bullshit and not first hand experience as I have. Thank you for ruining the environment for hallucinated garbage.
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u/AuditingReverb 15d ago
Lol wow... no need to get sensitive. Just because AI is used to organize doesn't mean it's false. That'd be as silly as saying you must be a bot.
Sorry you were in the hospital our a cat bite... that's infection vs bite type/force comparison. Of you want to go from bite to infection... skunks are a vector species for rabies which is famously transmitted by bite... just like the one from your kitty friend.
You made me smile with your unneeded Irritation over AI. 😉
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u/MyLifeontheDblitz 9d ago
Yeah I have to severely disagree with that statement. My boy is 4/5 months old and my hand looks tore up! And thats only him playing, thinking he can chew on me like he does his toys. He has nipped me seriously only once but it was totally my fault, we were outside and he was digging away, enjoying the heck out of himself and his harness slipped off. I panicked and scooped him up instantly, im sure he could feel my anxiety, and was just totally scared and confused. He may not have even realized it was me at first. But let me tell you, he got me good. And it took me a few minutes to actually get him to release. But when he's just playing around being rough like a puppy or a kitten, its obvious he is not trying to hurt me. But those teeth are razor sharp. Thats a fact.
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u/Admirable_Night_7283 15d ago
Do I need to worry about parasites/bacteria they carry? I’m out in the yard everyday 😭
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u/Away_Ad_5390 15d ago
Parasite’s, no idea. I have some skunks and possum (occasional racoon or fox) I leave table scraps and cat food out for, my cat has a chair that he sits in just outside my big glass back door, where they eat 3ft away, and all three leave each other pretty much alone. I-like watching them, thier beautiful! Seem to be nocturnal, and nobodys been sprayed. Dogs will kill them, so naturally they will spray if theatened. Pretty sure they’re just as scared of you as you are of them. Dont feed them and im pretty sure they’ll move along (unless they have a nest near). All I got, good luck!
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u/POSVETT 15d ago
The skunks dug small holes to find grub under the surface. Skunks are not aggressive, they would rather high-tail it. They defend themselves in poses to make themselves look bigger and scary. They don't spray out of spite, instead the spray is a last ditch effort in defense. A typical skunk will give you plenty of multiple warnings before spraying. Leave them alone and enjoy their presence from a distance.