First Orphaned Baby Skunk of 2018

WildCare admitted our first orphaned baby skunk of the season yesterday!

This tiny Striped Skunk was found after the storage container under which his mother had made her den was moved. Rescuers were unable to reunite him with his mother, so he will go into care with our Skunk Foster CareTeam, and he’ll be at WildCare for at least two months until he can be released.

You can help us provide his care! Click here to donate to help baby animals like this one!

So what do tiny baby skunks smell like? Not like their adult counterparts, fortunately.

At this age, the little ones have a distinctive but not unpleasant musky odor. When combined with the milky scent of the special skunk formula they are fed every three hours around the clock, these little ones smell a bit like dark chocolate— not at all unpleasant. When they are about three weeks old their scent glands have developed enough to register the familiar smell of skunk.

Over the next couple of months this little baby will learn how to use his distinctive defense mechanism. It takes some skill to effectively aim a blinding jet of scent right into the face of a predator, so adolescent skunks take practice shots during play to improve their aim.

It’s a WildCare Foster Care volunteer with a special domestic arrangement that is able to care for these babies until they are old enough for release!

As part of their extensive foster care, these little omnivores will need to be taught what adult skunks eat and where to find it. Because of their dining preferences, skunks actually make great neighbors. They eat all the things in your yard you’d just as soon be rid of including slugs, snails, mice and rats. WildCare introduces our foster care babies to all these foods and more.

This baby skunk is one of many animals who will receive a second chance at a life in the wild because of generous, animal-loving people like you.

But so many more wild animals are sick, injured and orphaned.

The proper diet for him as a baby and as a juvenile, veterinary services, medical supplies, a safe enclosure and other essential items for him and our other wild animal patients require significant funding. Your gift today will help provide the specialized care they urgently need.