Walk Softly – Striped Skunk

by Geoffrey Carpentier

Many of us over the past few years have been experiencing an incredible increase in the number of Japanese Beetles (see my column from 2020 Japanese Beetles (thestandardnewspaper.ca)), which can devastate our plants, as adults and our lawns as larvae. The onslaught continues unabated this year as hundreds, or likely thousands, of them decided to share my yard with me.

Normally I love bugs and welcome them, but there are just so many of these ones. What am I to do? I must admit I did set out a pheromone trap to try to capture some of the adults and was moderately successful, but many escaped my attempts at control. Those mated, laid eggs and hatched out the larvae, which are now munching on the roots of the grass in my lawn. Left unchecked, they can destroy a lawn in short order. In the old days, one would just hire someone to come and spray the lawn, but then not only the Japanese Beetles but all insects would be killed. That’s not an option I’m prepared to engage.

So, I just waited, and nature came to the rescue in the form of a very hungry Striped Skunk. These little guys get a bad rap just because they can be a bit stinky. But boy, can they sniff out the grubs, and detecting one, they dig a small hole and poof, it’s dinner! My lawn has hundreds of these little holes, meaning hundreds of the grubs can no longer do damage to my turf.

Let’s explore the life of the Striped Skink now. There are three or four, depending on which authority you follow, species of skunk in North America, excluding Mexico. Only one occurs in the east, from the Hudson Bay shoreline south to the Mexican border and beyond; the Striped Skunk. This is a smallish animal, a member of the weasel family, which forages primarily at night but can be found in daylight hours as well. Their diet is varied and opportunistic, as they will eat just about anything since they are omnivores. They do seem to favour insect prey as a primary part of their diet. Hence the hunting of the Japanese Beetle larvae mentioned above. These insects are supplemented with small mammals, birds’ eggs and babies, frogs and other amphibians and turtles.

Breeding commences in February and March. The female gives birth to her two to ten (average six) helpless young in early May after a gestation period of about 62 days. The underground den she chooses may be closely associated with human habitation or quite distant from it. At first, their scent glands don’t function, but when about a month old, look out for they are fully armed. The scent is expelled through one of two ducts adjacent to the rectum, and when agitated, the skunk can contract the nearby muscles and propel this stinky mist almost five meters at predators!

The family forages throughout the summer and fall until finally, between late October and early December, they enter a deep frost-free burrow, as a family group or sometimes with some invited neighbours as well. During the winter, they can emerge, but it is usually the males who come out first and assuredly if you see a late December animal out and about, it will be a male. Come spring, they emerge from hibernation, ready to attack my grubs again.

Oh, that stinky spray I mentioned. Apparently, it is a butyl mercaptan (a thiol), a highly volatile sulphur alcohol. If your pet gets exposed, we used to use turpentine (ugh) or tomato juice, but according to the American Kennel Club, you should do things a little differently. First of all, don’t bring the pet inside, as the odour will linger for a long time. Then, rinse the dog’s eyes with water or a pet-safe eyewash. Now wash the fur using a commercial skunk spray shampoo (yes, they have these) or make your own concoction from peroxide, baking soda and liquid dishwashing soap. Okay, let’s hope these little guys are as good at killing the grubs as I think they are.

Geoff Carpentier is a published author, expedition guide and environmental consultant. Visit Geoff on-line on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.