Skunk Mating Season & Skunk Birthing Season

Skunk Love – Analyzing skunk mating season in New England, and the skunk birthing season that follows.

February is known as the month of love.

From candy kisses to perfume and roses, the last thing one might expect to be confronted with is the pungent smell of a skunk’s spray. However, as many male skunks find out each year, sometimes love stinks.

February marks the beginning of the skunk mating season, but when males begin to look for their female counterparts is mainly dependent on the weather.

“It really depends on the weather as exactly when skunks are out in ‘mating mode,” said wildlife expert Paul Dube. “If the winter is harsh, they will wait longer to begin their search. But, if the winter is more mild, skunks will come out earlier in the month.”

For striped skunks — the only species that live in New England — this period of searching and mating usually carries into late March and possibly even early April.

Weather isn’t the only determining factor in whether or not male skunks stand a chance at finding romance, though. There are other considerations that a buck (male skunk) must take into account as well.

If a doe (female skunk) was born over the last year, it will not be mature enough to mate and will have to wait until later in the spring. Even worse for the male, if a mature doe is just “not that into him,” she will attempt to ward him off by releasing an unpleasant scent from her anal glands known as “spraying”. The buck is left lonely and the rest of the area smelling badly.

Thankfully for humans, this season doesn’t usually last longer than the span of a couple months before there’s less spraying and more waiting, as the females prepare to give birth to their pups.

But with spring brings hungry skunks. Pregnant skunks and new mothers, as well as male skunks, could pose an issue for homeowners.

Hungry mothers are often seen during the day looking for food for themselves and their young. These opportunistic eaters and can be found rummaging through open or unattended to garbage bins or trying to burrow in your yard and other low-clearance open areas around your home such as under decks, porches or sheds, seeking shelter from predators or looking for small grub to eat. This can potentially cause damage to both your property and home structure.

Skunk Birthing Season

Striped skunks give birth between the months of April and May. After mating, the female will find a new den to live in without a male skunk and give birth to her young. She will typically dig one out herself, usually under a porch, deck, or shed.

A female skunk can give birth to a litter of anywhere from 2 to 10 pups a year. Baby skunks (called kits) are blind and deaf for 3 weeks after birth, and cannot “spray” predators until they are a month old.  Though skunks are typically easy-going creatures, the mother must take on a more aggressive role in order to defend her young.

Kits live in the den with their mother until they are weaned at two months of age. At this point, the kits disperse to make their own homes elsewhere. At ten months, they are considered sexually mature, and typically live about 3 years in the wild.

Permanent Wildlife Exclusion

The easiest way to prevent this from happening is with total pest and wildlife exclusion. Very literally, this is the practice of excluding all pests and wildlife from getting into your home.

The easiest way to achieve long-last pest and wildlife exclusion is Catseye’s Cat-Guard Exclusion Systems.

With our Cat-Guard Exclusion Systems, including our patented Trench-Guard barrier, we will have a Catseye wildlife technician trap for several days and remove any skunks caught on your property.

We will also fill in any of the skunk dens to prevent more skunks or other pests from living there. Our trenching service is a great way to protect your home from more pesky critters that like to dig burrows.  

Contact us today if you’re having trouble with skunks or other wildlife and want to implement a permanent solution that is guaranteed to work.