Snunks!

Crossin' the highway late last night

He shoulda looked left and he shoulda looked right
He didn't see the station wagon car
The skunk got squashed and there you are!

You got yer dead skunk in the middle of the road
Stinkin' to high Heaven!

Remember that song “Dead Skunk” by Loudon Wainwright III? Some days it seems like he wrote it about Fairfield Glade.

I always thought that skunks were as dumb as armadillos in Texas for getting flattened as often as they do. You don’t see fox, coyotes, bobcats, or other mammals dead on the road very often. But I recently found out why so many skunks get squashed. Their eyesight is not clear beyond about 10 feet so they just never see the cars coming. Their hearing and sense of smell are sharp but that doesn’t help them much on the highway.

Growing up, we always called February “skunk month” because that is their breeding season and when they are most active…except when they are inactive on the road. But I have been seeing (and smelling) dead skunks all summer around here. Things will slow down in the colder months, because although skunks don’t truly hibernate, they do become much less active

Everyone seems to be afraid of skunks because of their potent chemical protection. But not many of us can think of a human that got sprayed by a skunk. Dogs are a different story. A friend’s slow learning dog has been nailed three separate times. The reason is that skunks spray in self defense so unless you run up and attempt to grab one you probably won’t get sprayed. By the way, their spraying range is only about 15 feet, so you conceivably could impress your neighbors by agitating a skunk from 20 feet away.

A few months ago I was hiking on the Cumberland Trail and a movement next to me caught my eye. Within 12 inches of my foot, walking right beside me was a skunk. I jumped 3 feet but the skunk just ambled along. Only when I kept approaching him to get a picture did he stop, stamp his feet as a warning and eventually do a handstand on his front feet to warn me prior to firing. I took the hint and backed off and everyone was cool…no chemicals were launched.

There are two kinds of skunks in Tennessee, Striped Skunks and Spotted Skunks. I have only seen the more common striped ones around here. Skunks are related to weasels, mink, otters, wolverines, etc. All of these mammals have strong scent glands but none are as potent or as specialized as skunks.

Up to 70% of a skunk’s diet is insects, but they will also eat lizards, snakes, birds, or even garbage if you put it out the night before. Those little cone shaped holes in your lawn or mulch are probably from skunks digging out grubs. Hey, they are neat, they work at night when you are sleeping, they do the job, and there is no charge…what more could you ask for?

So, look outside before letting the dog out at night and try to miss them on the highway and we should be able to appreciate and enjoy skunks just a little bit more. They are just another part of the big picture of nature around us.