Striped Skunk (Mephitis mephitis) juv - 2016-7-26 Newark, DE - heading for the ditch after the slipper sniffing
The camera had been giving me problems all day but, when I saw what I thought was the small skunk, I forgot about that and hurried upstairs to fetch the camera.
This was In the wee hours of the morning. I watched it digging out front under the Oak. The camera gave me fits and starts with the freaking "lens error, restart camera" message. >:o( I don't care if you don't believe the following but it's true.
In between lens errors I managed to get one picture of it out front. I thought it might be leaving, so I stood up and walked to the end of the porch and frantically tried to start the camera again. The skunk wasn't leaving, only changed direction, so I stepped back a few feet, away from the edge of the porch and the light, and into the shadows. While still getting the lens error repeatedly the skunk came closer and closer. I thought it was going into the Zinnias but, you won't believe this, it came on the porch! All the while I'm trying to get the lens to work! It came right up to me and was smelling my slippers!
The beeping of the camera didn't seem to bother it and I was overjoyed and angry with the camera, both at the same time. It was there with me for perhaps a full 10-15 seconds but I must have moved my body too much while fiddling with the camera and it turned to leave.
It walked away at a quicker pace then when it came. Alas, the best the camera gods allowed was one photo as it headed for the ditch. I'm grateful, I suppose, for at least that much. I would have been even unhappier if I hadn't been able to get a picture at all.
What a night! Not only do I get to see a skunk, I get to see a white skunk. Not only is it a white skunk, it's the second one! Not only do I get a picture, but I get to have a close encounter!
If I don't get Alzheimer's, I'll remember this meeting with the young skunk the rest of my life!
Update 9/9/16: Haven't been seeing or smelling any skunks lately. Lately, meaning the last week or so. Maybe it's because of this:
http://blog.nature.org/science/2016/08/31/smelling-skunks-season-summer-behavior-ecology/
This was In the wee hours of the morning. I watched it digging out front under the Oak. The camera gave me fits and starts with the freaking "lens error, restart camera" message. >:o( I don't care if you don't believe the following but it's true.
In between lens errors I managed to get one picture of it out front. I thought it might be leaving, so I stood up and walked to the end of the porch and frantically tried to start the camera again. The skunk wasn't leaving, only changed direction, so I stepped back a few feet, away from the edge of the porch and the light, and into the shadows. While still getting the lens error repeatedly the skunk came closer and closer. I thought it was going into the Zinnias but, you won't believe this, it came on the porch! All the while I'm trying to get the lens to work! It came right up to me and was smelling my slippers!
The beeping of the camera didn't seem to bother it and I was overjoyed and angry with the camera, both at the same time. It was there with me for perhaps a full 10-15 seconds but I must have moved my body too much while fiddling with the camera and it turned to leave.
It walked away at a quicker pace then when it came. Alas, the best the camera gods allowed was one photo as it headed for the ditch. I'm grateful, I suppose, for at least that much. I would have been even unhappier if I hadn't been able to get a picture at all.
What a night! Not only do I get to see a skunk, I get to see a white skunk. Not only is it a white skunk, it's the second one! Not only do I get a picture, but I get to have a close encounter!
If I don't get Alzheimer's, I'll remember this meeting with the young skunk the rest of my life!
Update 9/9/16: Haven't been seeing or smelling any skunks lately. Lately, meaning the last week or so. Maybe it's because of this:
http://blog.nature.org/science/2016/08/31/smelling-skunks-season-summer-behavior-ecology/
Comments
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on 2016-Jul-27 23:24:51 Balcony Birder said I'm worried about the mother, I haven't seen her since the episode with the foxes.
I just came in from outside and saw what I believe is two kits! They were too fearless and came too close. I don't believe they would have come that close if one was the mother considering that the first time I saw her out with one of her young she stayed on the other side of the ditch, further away from me, rather than on the near side, closer to me, when she was out on her own feeding.
This site says:
http://tracker.cci.fsu.edu/skunk/about/how/
"They will leave the den and venture out with their mother for the first time when they are between six and eight weeks old. Striped skunks reach sexual maturity at a year old, and it is at this age that they are finally ready to leave their mother."
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