Did you know.................

Well, its Wednesday – a Friday for me at work.  I have family coming in from out-of-state and have lots of keen family fun planned until Sunday.  I won’t be posting my blog, so please, if you go into a deep depression over it, you can always refer to old blog posts, maybe go back to the beginning!  Ha ha. 😻😻😻

I have a total of 8 kittens.  Two of the six are adopted, two adoptions are pending, and four are still waiting for a home.  Those four are Jamie, Jack, JC and KC.  Three boys and a girl.  They are all adorable, and ready to rock.  I had SIX kittens in for spay/neuter yesterday at the clinic.  Two more are going in for spay and neuter tomorrow.  Lolly and Pop, who are now called Donny and Marie by their new parents.  Jazzy’s name is being changed to Birdy.  Julie’s name has been changed to Egypt.  Saffy’s name was changed to Gwen.  Gwen and Egypt were adopted by the same family.  Junebug is going to be named Daisy after she is adopted, when she joins her big brother Gatsby. 

I set the trap on Parsells #3 location this morning, the kitten trap, as I have been every day since I saw a baby red kitten there on Saturday, and today, I didn’t trap a kitten, but I did trap a KIT (baby skunk).  Oh Lordy.  I had to think fast when I saw the kit in the trap, so I grabbed a towel, threw it over the trap, opened the trap door very carefully, and had to turn it upside down and shake it gently because the skunk was holding on for dear life.  Prior to me approaching the trap, I noticed another youngster hanging out at the trap wondering why its sibling was inside the cage.  After release, the two skedaddled away together, leaving no scent behind.  Thank GOD!  That could have been a MESS!

Here are some fun facts about skunks!

Skunks are small, furry animals with black and white stripes. Some skunks are striped, and some are spotted or have swirl patterns on their fur. No matter the pattern, the black-and-white coloring is a warning sign to anyone who may harm this small creature. They pack a wallop of a defense mechanism — noxious odors produced from their well-developed scent glands. 

Size

Skunks are typically around the size of house cats. They grow to 8 to 19 inches (20 to 48 centimeters) long and weigh around 7 ounces to 14 lbs. (198 grams to 6 kilograms). Their tail adds another 5 to 15 inches (13 to 38 cm) to their length.

The Eastern hog-nosed skunk is the largest of all the skunk species. It typically grows to 27.56 to 31.50 inches (70 to 80 cm) and weighs 4.41 to 9.91 lbs. (2 to 4.5 kg).

 Habitat

These small stinkers are found in the United States, Canada, South America and Mexico. Stink badgers, which were recently considered part of the skunk family, are found in Indonesia and the Philippines. 

Skunks live in forest edges, woodlands, grasslands and deserts. They typically make their homes in abandoned burrows, but will also live in abandoned buildings, under large rocks and in hollow logs.

Habits

The skunk’s most memorable trait is its smell. When frightened, skunks will shoot a smelly, oily substance from a gland underneath their tails with a range of up to 10 feet.  The scent from this gland can last for days, but isn’t harmful. Most animals leave skunks alone unless they can’t find other prey. Before spraying, a spotted skunk will do a handstand on its front paws and aim its tail without taking its eyes off its attacker.

It is important to remember that most skunks are not aggressive and won’t harm humans unless they are threatened.

Skunks are nocturnal and forage for food while most animals and humans sleep. Though you typically see skunks by themselves, they gather to mate. A group of skunks are called a surfeit.

Diet

Skunks are omnivores, which means they eat both meat and vegetation. Their diet consists of plants, insects, larvae, worms, fruit, eggs, reptiles, small mammals and fish.

Offspring

Little is known about the biology of stink badgers.

Female skunks give birth every year. Their gestation period often lasts around two months and they give birth to two to 10 offspring at a time. 

Baby skunks are called kits. Kits are blind when born, since their eyes are sealed shut until around the age of 3 weeks. They are weaned at 2 months old. After they are weaned, they leave the den and at to 10 to 12 months old they are ready to have their own kits.

Skunks have very short lives and often live only around three years. In captivity they can live a little longer, usually seven to eight years.

Other facts

Before spraying, a skunk will often charge at an attacker, stomp its front legs or hiss.

Skunk are one of four wild animals considered to be primary carriers of the rabies virus.

The Eastern spotted skunk is the only skunk that can climb trees. 

I do not get a break, however, from doing what I do every single day for the past 20 years.  That is getting up at 2 am. to ready myself to leave the house at 3:40 am. with 40+ pounds of dry food, six large containers of wet food, and four huge jugs of water, enough to fill nearly 30 bowls of food, at 19 different locations, sometimes stopping midway between locations when I see a lone stray cat. 

I will be setting a trap tomorrow, as I've now seen two pregnant cats - I have no set appointment at a clinic but I will just hope for the best that one will take a cat if I trap it.  It must be done.  We CANNOT have any more kittens being born, not under my watch.

Get a load of these FACTS!  

• Each day 70,000 puppies and kittens are born in the United States.  Approximately 40,000 of them will end up abandoned to the streets up at a shelter or rescue organization. (Source: Spay USA)

• Approximately 55% of dogs and puppies and 71% of cats and kittens entering shelters are euthanized. (Source: National Council on Pet Population)

• There are 6-8 million cats and dogs euthanized by shelters each year. (Source: Doris Day Foundation)

• Two of the top ten reasons for relinquishing a pet to a shelter or rescue organization are too many pets in the home and/or unable to find homes for littermates (Source: National Council on Pet Population)

• The main reason for cat overpopulation is feral, free-roaming, un-owned cats. (Source: Save Our Strays)

• Shelters to house and care for dogs and cats due to the shortage of homes spend over $2 billion annually.  (Source: Business Wire Features)

• Average number of litters a female cat can produce each year is 3, with between 4-6 kittens in each litter. (Source: Humane Society of the United States)

• One female cat, her mate, and her offspring can produce 11,606,077 cats in 9 years (Source: Spay USA)

• Average number of litters a female dog can produce each year is 2, with between 6-10 puppies in each litter. (Source: Humane Society of United States)

• One unspayed female dog and her offspring can produce 67,000 dogs in 6 years. (Source: Spay USA)

Pretty grim statistics!  PLEASE SPAY AND NEUTER!

Have a nice day!

“All that we are

Is the result of

What we have

Thought.  The mind

Is everything.

What we think we

Become.”