Do Skunks Spray When Mating
Skunks mate for a long period, almost as long as raccoons. They tend to start in February and continue to mate for the full period until the end of March. This can be a nightmare for any homeowner as skunks like raccoons are animals that live in cities and suburbs. These animals are used to human presence and are not frightened away by a human being near them. This means they can happily live on your property, burrowed under your deck or shed and away from your access. Not just that but they also have an incredibly effective weapon, non-violent but highly effective. The spray of a skunk is made of mainly of three very low molar weight thiol compounds, (E)-2-butene-1-thiol, 3-methyl-1-butanethiol, and 2-quinolinemethanethiol among other compounds. All of these compounds are easily smelled by humans at tiny volumes, as low as eleven parts per million. So getting one tiny drop on you is like being hit with a heat-seeking missile. To deal with this situation you will need to be smart and proactive. The skunk is not leaving any time soon, males children leave quickly but the females stay with their mother for over a year. That is an untenable length of time.
Now, yes, males skunks fight with their spray. So when mating season starts the male skunks will be highly active and spraying all over the place. You may have noticed this happening around February or March. A lot of terrible smells and male skunks wandering on your property. It doesn’t last long but it can be a serious issue. In this case, trapping is your only hope and you can assume that a trapped skunk is going to spray you. The best option is to leave them alone and stay inside for much of that time. This may sound like not much fun but if the skunks are on your property fighting over a mate you should stay far away from it as you may not just be sprayed but attacked by an angry skunk.
Males are not the only ones who spray. The female of the species is as aggressive as the male and she will spray males she does not want to mate with. If you have ever been shot down in a bar imagine how much worse it would be if the woman sprayed you will pepper spray. Getting rid of a skunk is a big process. Doing any work to get them out will alert and anger them. Trapping them is very hard as you will get sprayed when you pick up the trap to relocate it and do not forget that you need to put it in your car to relocate it to a new area. This is why professionals are better. So call Raccoon City for a quote and get your backyard back from that skunk!
