Encounters With Skunks

     Many striped skunks live in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, probably more than we natives to this area know because skunks are nocturnal creatures.  We sometimes smell strong, musky skunk spray, which is the most likely way we are aware of a skunk's nearby presence, when one of them gets in trouble or is hit by a vehicle.  We smell them often during spring when males are traveling about looking for mates in unfamiliar territory, and a few have to defend themselves or are killed on a road.  And we pick up the scent of young skunks in autumn when they move about in territories they don't know in search of their own home range and encounter trouble or are killed on a road.
     The fur of striped skunks is attractive, mostly black with two white stripes down the back.  But skunk patterns are variable.  Some of them are almost completely black all over, while others are almost completely white on top.  Each skunk is about the size of a house cat, but chunkier.  There was a time, not long ago, when they were trapped for their fur.  I once saw a dead skunk in a trap that was never recovered: What a shame.  
     I have had many encounters with skunks, some of which I remember vividly.  The first one I saw was when I was about 12 years old and living in the country outside Rohrerstown in Lancaster County.  On a sunny summer evening I climbed a tree in a hedgerow between fields to see wildlife.  A few kinds of small birds were around and then I saw a gray fox walk under the tree I was in.  Minutes later a skunk waddled under the tree.  Neither critter seemed to notice me in the tree.  I was thrilled to see the fox and skunk so closely on the same beautiful evening. 
     As a young adult, I lived in Neffsville in Lancaster County.  One crisp, October evening after dark I went into the yard to look at the stars and feel the cool air.  While on the lawn, I heard a peculiar hissing and stomping.  Thinking those subtle noises were coming from a skunk, I went in the house to get a flashlight.  I flashed the light around the yard and, sure enough, there was a skunk.  The skunk did not seem to be alarmed, but I went into the house to avoid an encounter.
     Another evening at dusk at that same house, I saw the skunk, probably the same one, come across our yard and crawl into a hole in one of our garbage cans.  The can shook a bit as the skunk was getting edible tidbits.  The next evening I sat in my car and watched for the skunk to go in that garbage can at twilight, which it did.  For several evenings the skunk walked across our lawn and into the can for edibles.
     A few years later in Neffsville, we had another skunk in the yard.  I built a brush pile in a ditch on the side of the lawn that I hoped animals would hide in.  After a heavy rain the ditch filled with water and watched from inside the house for creatures to come out of the brush pile.  Two critters did, an opossum that promptly climbed a small tree to escape the water and a skunk that waddled rapidly across the grass.
     I co-led periodic night tours in a van with a powerful spotlight in Lancaster County Central Park when I was a naturalist there to see nocturnal wildlife.  We saw lots of white-tailed deer, plus cottontail rabbits, red foxes, opossums, raccoons and striped skunks.  Some of those critters, including the skunks, were close to the van where everyone got good looks at them.
     I have seen skunks while I was on foot in the country or in woodlands.  I always give those creatures as wide a berth as I can, but they don't seem to acknowledge my presence.  Luckily, I have never been sprayed by a skunk. 
     I have unexpectedly seen skunks on country roads when driving at night.  I remember seeing a couple of them near the Ephrata area, one in the Twin Valleys region and a couple others near Holtwood near the Susquehanna River in southern Lancaster County.  I always do my best to avoid hitting those furry critters.
     Of course, I have seen many skunks dead along roads both in the country and in towns.  They are slow to get off roads because they rely on their spray to save them, not realizing that vehicles are not impressed by that stinky liquid.  Dead skunks have relatives nearby, so we know where skunks are living partly by noting where their dead relatives are.            
     Striped skunks are always interesting to see wherever they may be.  As a species, they range across much of North America and are quite adaptable, taking advantage of a variety of habitats, including farmland, woodlands, cities and suburban areas.  And they will eat practically anything, another reason why they are successful and common.  If the reader encounters a skunk, give it lots of room to walk away without incident.  That practice is good for the skunk, and you.