Brother Skunk

Brother Skunk and I have been dancing around each other all week when I go get the paper. Now that the days are getting shorter, it is not quite sunrise when I walk out to the the mailbox and Brother Skunk is still out foraging. Since there was no paper today, I grabbed my video camera and caught Brother Skunk still out and about. The video is not very good because of the low light, but you can see him scampering around.



Skunks are generally nocturnal and begin foraging at sunset. Skunks are omnivorous and help keep the rodent population in check. They often travel five to ten miles within their territory at night looking for field mice and other small rodents as well as lizards, frogs, birds, eggs, garbage, acorns, and fallen fruit. They also dig for insects, especially beetles, larvae, and earthworms. Their diet includes black widow spiders and scorpions. Being carrion eaters, they help keep roadways and neighborhoods clean. An estimated 70 percent of a skunk's diet consists of insects considered harmful to humans.

Some of the best advice that I ever received was "... never wrestle a skunk. You come out smelling bad even when you win." Fortunately, Brother Skunk hasn't made me smell bad - yet, but I'm not inclined to wrestle with him either!