Phew!!!

One of my latest rescues Whisp, only likes to eat on the front porch. Normally no cat goes in our front yard, but she lives under the stoop and comes out to eat in the mornings and at night.

I put her food out tonight like normal, and after about 20 minutes, because it is canned food, I opened the door to take up the dish and I scared a skunk! He split, but before he did, he sprayed our door as a rememberance! GAG Me! I love skunks when they are babies, but not when they are full grown and fully armed! Peee Yew!

Oh wow! I never seen a skunk in my life! Or smelled one spraying...
Im sorry to hear he sprayed the porch and all... It probably takes a while for it to go away, right?

Are they dangerous to cats?

Some baby skunks I took care of before releasing them into the wild-

MA, what a great way to start your weekend, huh?

Jenn, Sorry to disappoint but my cleaning book doesn't have a thing in it about skunk stinch. Its the first time that book has let me down!

Hope you find a good way to get rid of the icky smell! The only thing that I've ever heard of that works is tomato juice, but doubt that you could use it on your porch. People might think someone was murdered or something!

Good Luck!

oh how cute the little skunkbabies are!! Unfortunately I know the stench of skunk all too well from where I live.. ew.

awww babies are sooo cute!! One of my dads friend had a pet snuck. It had the stinky part removed and used kitty litter. It was really cute.

There are some enzymatic solutions, available at farm & ranch supply stores. My groomer friend uses them on dogs and cats, that have been skunked.

Sorry to be a spaz, but what does a skunks spray smell like? I mean, I know it's BAD but is it like sewerage or off meat etc? We don't have skunks Down Under. Is the really bad smell a means of self defence? If so, why is it so strong? LOL Maybe there's some resources on the net about these cute (but stinky) critters.

Mary Anne, those babies are gorgeous. are they smell free up until a certain age?

Oh, wow, yuck! What a way to start a long weekend! The only thing I've ever heard of is tomato juice, but I think that's more for getting the smell off of YOU, not a door! Good luck at any rate!

What a nasty way to start your weekend! The babies are SO cute, though. I got to see a bunch a baby skunks out playing in a field once. They play like kittens!

Tania, it's a very strong musky smell. It is the skunk's means of defense, and it is so strong so the predator thinks twice about EVER attacking any skunk again! The only thing I can compare the smell to is fox musk (we had foxes in the big field behind our house growing up, and the smells were similar). I haven't smelled it myself, but for those who have, is it similar to a cat's anal glands when they are expressed?

And it does make your eyes burn, throat tighten. It's like a natural mace.

Sounds !!

Speaking of skunks...I was watching Fear Factor a couple weeks ago it seems like, and what they had to do was go into this pitch dark tunnel and find 3 dead skunks and place them in a bag and bring it out of the tunnel, some of the Fear Factor picked up off the side of the road(so they said), but from what they made it sounded like, it stunk soo bad..I couldn't even imagine....How's the smell now Hiss?

Kathy, I hope they won lots of money for doing it! Pretty gross though!

$10,000.00 is what they ar going for on the show...I don't know if I could do some of those things on there...ick...they have some pretty nasty things for people to do for money.....

Tania- it is LOL

As for when they are babies, you can handle them a certain way and they won't stress out and spray you. The can't spray effectively until they are about 6 months old, but when I bottle feed, I wear a rubber apron and hold them in a certain way, or they *leak* LOL I love it when they get bigger, and I put a hardboiled egg in the plastic pool where they play. They push this egg around with their nose until they reach a solid object (in this case a large rock) then they push with their heads to break the egg open and then reach in with tiny (sharp) claws to scoop up the food.

I have scrubbed my front door about 6 times already with a deskunking agent...

wow, Hissy, I just saw now your pic of the skunks! they look kinda cute... so, when you raise them they don't spray you or anything? thats very interesting! You think they could make good pets?

everytime people talk about skunks it reminds me of the cartoon French skunk Don-Juan! I always laugh at that when he courts the Kitty!!!

MA, the egg thing souds so cute! LOL Have you had any success getting rid of the smell after 6 scrubs? Maybe you could try the tomato juice that a few people have suggested.

Maybe a new front door?

Back in the '70s, descented skunks were a trendy pet. A pet store sold them here. The fad kind of died out, though.

Nunny any wild animal babies that I care for are released into the wild. If they are injured and cannot survive on their own, they are placed at the wildlife rehab center. I do not believe that wild animals make good pets.