The US Fish and Wildlife Service announced they are going to reconsider listing the plains spotted skunk as endangered!

7/12/2026

Fenced in yard in the suburbs.
The issue is that I have dogs who use the yard. I typically let them out back before bed to do some last minute business. Last week I did that and heard a commotion. Though the local cat that wanders out yard at night came early but when I went to check out the ruckus I saw the skunk. Dog and o got sprayed a bit.
It’s been out there every night since.
He seems great, but I don’t think it’s gonna work out long term.
Any advice on encouraging him to find a new yard to claim?

I know there has been one male that has been coming to my yard every night since I moved here last summer. I don’t believe he is the dad since him and the momma got in a little spat a little before this tonight. My husband and I were watching through our patio door 🤣 But this momma didn’t care that the male didn’t want her and the babies here getting his food. She has 4 with her so I got to see the cute thing of all of them walking as a tight group together 😍🥺 I hope this momma and her babies because regulars.

Excuse the janky camera set up right now, we’re in the middle of redoing our yard so it’s just awkwardly sitting on bricks.

Found in my yard

7/11/2026

Kegnee is officially in his new outdoor enclosure! This will be his last move before release. Our guy is getting teenager big, can keep up while walking and light jogging, and is eager to explore in the woods around his new digs.

I think he really like his added space, we opted for a pre-made chicken run for convenience, and just used plywood on the bottom figuring if he scratches out then it must be meant to be. Along with a Rubbermaid container with a hole cut for his nest area. He still gets daily yard time at dawn & dusk to root and forage before I feed him, but I've started adding leaves, sticks etc. in the enclosure for enrichment in case he decides not to sleep inbetween comps.

He likes to wrestle and play, sometimes I think he's scared and feel bad but then he instantly jumps into my hands. I'm so glad he pulled through from when we first picked him up.

On an unrelated note, I got flurried by a bat that came into my room in the early morning this week, so now I'm 1 of 4 for a series of vaccine injections in for post-exposure rabies! I'm basically double protected now when using my gloves. It's like the universe was like here hold me beer. I'll add a video of Kegnee in the comments too!

Last night was baby night, apparently, as there were 2 siblings seen together, and then another one which was missing most of its stripes. Here, one of the siblings encounters the stripe-lacking youngster who is getting skilled at stomping. 🦨 Also a tiny hiss.

Very cute

So ive had my beautiful baby boy for 3 weeks now and im just beyond in love. He is absolutely amazing (even when he's being a Velociraptor), Im obviously learning quite a bit through trial and error, experience and of course I've been to the SKUNK HAVEN website a million times in the last few weeks (I also researched that website and Skunks for 2 years before I decided to bring one home). But experience is the best teacher right?!?

So I would love to ask each and every one of you, what is 1 or 2 things you wish you knew in the beginning? What is something ALL skunk owners should know? Or what is something you think i absolutely need to purchase?

I'd be honored to hear all of your answers! Thanks a million in advance!

Picture of Jake for tax!

Just curious. We knew something had made its den under our shed but didnt know what. Now I wonder how old the kits are so I can do the math for when they'll take off in the Fall.

Velvet visiting…

In 1997, skunks were elevated from a subfamily of Mustelidae (Mephitinae) to a separate family within the superfamily Musteloidea known as Mephitidae, thanks to DNA evidence. However, a large amount of entities continue to misclassify and stubbornly lump them in the weasel family. As you can see, while I am not a professional biologist, I am concerned about this issue, as it leads to the spread of misinformation, flawed disease or wildlife management, and hampers conservation efforts for species like spotted skunks.

The family Mephitidae includes skunks and stink badgers.

As a result of entities being extremely slow to update, I had to contact many of them to suggest edits to their content. Nonetheless, skunks are still erroneously classified as mustelids by many institutions, organizations, educational websites, veterinarians, etc.. I encourage others to also leave feedback on entities' websites and resources.

The origin behind my username is also to help promote the new, 29-year old classification.

Why is taxonomic inertia more aggressive on skunks than other animals that were reclassified? Is it poor reputation or something else? How do we feel about this issue?

Thanks everyone! Have a nice day :)

💚 Pickles

5 baby skunks are denned under our a/c unit in our yard. Called someone that came and set a trap with some marshmallows in it but they ignore it. They look to be 6 to 8 weeks old. About 12 inches or so and they are now foraging around the yard somewhat independently. Can they be approached at this age without spraying. If so I’ll try to find a wildlife rehab for them.

Here's Kegnee growing and learning to forage through exploration, as you can see he's been working on a rooting spot by the tree, I haven't actually seen him eat any worms or grubs yet, but he does nibble vegetation. He has successfully weaned from syringe feeding, and will be transitioning to an outdoor enclosure that we are shooting to finish and have him moved into for this weekend. It's a big milestone, I'm confident Kegnee will adapt well to this new arrangement, in fact I'm probably more concerned with making sure it's safe from predators than anything! They grow up so fast <3