If you’re reading this article after you found a helpless baby skunk crawling out of its burrow, then chances are you’re not an expert at handling these kinds of situations. At this moment your heart may be moved by the cute and frail looking kit (that’s a baby skunk if you’re wondering) to try and care for it. So, should you feed it? I wouldn’t advise that. But it’s so cute, you say indignantly. Well, that may be the case, but it still doesn’t make YOU any more qualified to take on this difficult task. Here’s why.
It’s a VERY tricky job
You might be thinking about taking care of a baby skunk would be pretty easy, almost like taking care of a kitten. Now before you do the insensible thing and feed the kit some milk and cat food, you need to remember one solitary fact: the dietary requirements of a baby skunk are much different than those of a kitten.
In fact, they’re tremendously more complex. A baby skunk needs to be fed the right mix of calcium, protein, minerals, and vitamins; achieving this balance may have been second nature to its mother, but to you, its one you cannot hope to master in such a short time. Better not to try if failure’s almost guaranteed.
You’re putting yourself at risk
Caring for a wild animal, be it a skunk or some other critter your heart yearned to help, is risky business. You’re putting yourself directly in harm’s way. After all, baby skunks, like all other wild animals, carry a multitude of nasty germs and parasites that could make you sick. True you could be safe from over 95% percent of these diseases if you took the precaution of rubber gloves and a face mask, but why tempt fate in the first place.
You might end up doing more harm than good
Remember the stress put on getting the job done right above? Well, if you were to ignore my warnings and feed the baby skunk the wrong balance of nutrients, you could be putting the animal through a world of pain. I’m talking kidney stones, bone spurs, poor development, bone calcification, and a bunch of other less than pleasant outcomes the baby skunk may face in the coming days, thanks to your “kindness.” You thought the kit looked cute before? I hope you can stand to pick up its lifeless body after you’ve done so much harm.
The right course of action
The best way to resolve this situation is to call in the experts. They’ve dealt with this situation countless times and knew from experience and training the best way to take care of the kit. Only if the authorities are running a little late and you fear the kit may dehydrate, feed it a little water to drink, using a syringe, directly in its mouth, no more than that. Be kind by not showing too much kindness to the animal.
Go back to the St Landry Parish wildlife removal home page.