Skunks are famous for their capacity to provide foul smelling odor to defend a prey. These mammals belong to the Mephitidae family. Eleven species of skunks are known. The varieties of species will be divided into four basically: Spilogale or spotted skunks, Mydaus or stink badgers, Conepatus or hog-nosed skunks, and Mephitis or stripped and hooded skunks. Skunks are found in North America, South America, Canada, Philippines and Indonesia.
Lengthwise they vary from forty centimeters to seventy centimeters and in weight they vary from one pound to ten pounds. They have front claws which help them to dig easily and have brief muscular legs, which go along with their moderately long striped body. Commonly, their fur is of white and black colors, but there are skunks with gray, brown and cream colored fur. Skunks are stripped from birth. A thick stripe runs from their tail to the top of their head. Some many have two thin strips, broken strips or white spots. Some Skunks legs are also stripped.
Some nations have laws about maintaining skunks as pets. It is legal to have a skunk as a pet in United States. Often mephitis species are most well-liked pets as they are very social. Before selling a skunk, the pet retailers remove the scent glands of skunks. They are purported to live longer in captivity when compared to living in wild. Their lifespan is from ten to twenty years. ItÂ’s usual with Pilgrims and European settlers, in United States, to keep skunks as pets.
Skunks feed on both plants and animal and hence are omnivorous. Coming to animals they eat insects, earthworms, lizards, frogs, rodents, salamanders, snakes, moles, birds and eggs. After they can not find meat, they feed on wild fruits and seeds. Some skunks even feed on garbage, in urban areas.
Skunks are crepuscular animals. Skunks stay aloof when not breeding, but stay in communal dens in the winters. They do not hibernate in the winters, but become inactive and do not eat much. They live in burrows dug by them or man made pits or natural pits, depending on their necessities and situation. In winter, a huddle with one male and almost twelve female live a den. They use the same den, every year in the winter.
Skunks have superb hearing and smelling sense. But their vision is not good. They can’t see clearly more than three meters and that’s the reason why most skunks are killed in road accidents. In response to a examine, nearly fifty p.c skunks die resulting from road site visitors and not more than ten percent cross three years of life.
Skunks have the power to carry rabies. Almost thirty one p.c of them are infected with it, but all the human rabies circumstances consequence from dog and bat bites. Before conserving them as pets, they should be vaccinated to avoid any mishaps. And incase, a skunk bites sure measures needs to be taken. Clear the wound totally with antibacterial solution and water. If the wound is bleeding, apply ice pack or stress to stop it. Emergency service ought to be known as immediately. After attending to the physician, insists on taking a tetanus shot. Try to catch the skunk, both lifeless or alive, so that it gainedÂ’t unfold rabies to others within the neighborhood. Additionally check could be carried out to determine whether or not the skunk had rabies or not.
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