Love’s in the air: It’s skunk mating season

Is that skunk I smell? As February begins and spring slowly starts to make itself felt across Marin, you might be concerned about what seems like the increasingly noxious prevalence of skunk spray in your neighborhood. If you’re smelling skunk in the evenings, does this mean you have a skunk problem?

Fortunately, no! February heralds skunk mating season, and our striped friends have romance on their minds. Over the next several weeks, skunks will be seeking mates, and this activity always results in an uptick in the amount of skunk spray in the air. Male skunks spray each other when they fight over females, and females spray males they don’t want as mates. If such an encounter has occurred near your home, you will surely smell the results.

The increase in noticeable skunk scent doesn’t imply that there are more skunks in your neighborhood, just that the ones that are already there are more active. And having active skunks in your area is a good thing — these small, striped omnivores make good neighbors. As they waddle through our yards, skunks voraciously consume slugs, snails, insects, grubs, rats and mice, along with fallen and rotting fruit and other things we prefer not to have in our vicinity. They provide a real service to us with their dining habits. If your yard is part of a skunk’s regular territory, the number of garden-devouring pests will be significantly reduced, which is great news for us and for our garden plants.

The other good news is that skunks don’t actually want to spray you. Skunks generate their noxious spray in special glands in their rear ends, and the spray is their primary defense mechanism. These glands can only generate and hold a certain amount of spray, however, so the skunk must decide whether they want to use it on you or your dog or conserve it to be used against another predator, potentially in a more dire situation. Skunks can’t run very fast, their claws are mostly used for digging and they can’t climb, so with their limited amount of spray as their only defense, a skunk will wave that fluffy tail and stamp their feet to tell a would-be predator to move along. As anyone who has encountered skunk spray up close can attest, this deterrent is very effective.

So how can you successfully steer clear of our romantically inclined striped friends in the weeks ahead? Watch their body language and give them warning and time to make a hasty exit before you or your dog get too close. If you encounter a skunk, pay attention to their body language and back away if you see their tail raised high and their rear end turned toward you, or if you see them stomping their feet. The skunk will lower their tail once they feel you have successfully been warned and have backed away the appropriate amount, and that’s when you know it’s safe to continue on your way.

To help prevent your dog from encountering a skunk, before letting your dog out in the evening, flash your porch lights a few times. Stamp your feet and make some noise. Then, give the skunk some time to escape under the fence and away. Skunks prefer not to spray, thereby keeping their one line of defense ready for the next scary situation. Giving them time and space to move along keeps you and your dog stink-free and allows these charming and beneficial neighbors to continue their good work.

Lisa Bloch is the director of marketing and communications at Marin Humane, which contributes Tails of Marin and welcomes questions and comments. Go to marinhumane.org, find us on social media @marinhumane, or email lbloch@marinhumane.org.