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Skunks are mammals.
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Skunks are omnivores meaning they eat both plants and animals.
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Skunks eat a variety of things including: fruits, plants, insects, worms, reptiles, bird eggs, small mammals and rodents.
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Skunks will attack a beehive and eat honey bees.
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Skunks are mainly nocturnal and search for food at night.
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There are 10 different kinds of Skunks. The 3 main types are Striped Skunks, Hog-Nosed Skunk, and the Spotted Skunk.
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The Striped Skunk is black with two white stripes going down their backs.
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The Hog-Nosed Skunk are black and hairless around their snout. They do not have a white stripe on their face.
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The Spotted Skunk are all black with white patches on their backs. Spotted skunks can climb trees.
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Skunks live mainly in North, Central and South America.
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The Stink Badger Skunk lives in Indonesia and the Philippines.
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The most common type of skunk in the U.S is the Striped Skunk.
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On average skunks weight around 14 pounds however some can weight up to 18pounds.
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The average life span for wild skunks is 3 years. Domesticated skunks can live up to 10 years.
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Skunks are know for spraying a foul smell when they feel threatened.
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The spray is called musk.
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The musk is a yellow oily foam.
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The musk comes out of two anal glands from under their tail.
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Stand back because skunks can spray musk 10 – 12 feet.
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Before a skunk sprays must they will usually give a warning. They may stomp their feet, growl, hiss, turn their backs or lift their tails.
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A skunk carries enough musk to spray 5-8 times. Once the glands are empty if will take a week for them to refill.
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A skunks spray is not harmful to humans however the foul odor can last a couple of days.
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A male skunk is called a buck.
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A female skunk is called a doe.
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A baby skunk is called a kit.
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Kits are born blind and do not have the ability to spray musk for a couple of weeks.
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Mother skunks give birth to 2-10 skunks.
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Skunks nest in burrows made by other animals or hollow logs sometimes they live in abandoned buildings.
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Skunks live in rural, suburban and even urban areas close to water.
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Their habitats include woods, grasslands and brush.
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Skunks can runs up to 10 miles per hour.
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Skunks have excellent hearing and a good sense of smell. They have poor eyesight.
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Skunks can carry rabies.
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Predators to skunks are wolves, fox, owls, coyotes and bobcats.