Skunks have a varied diet, including insects like beetles, beetle larvae, crickets, bees, wasps, and grasshoppers. They also feast on small mammals such as voles, rats, moles, and mice, along with birds, their eggs, and even carrion. Besides these, they enjoy fruits, nuts, and vegetables from gardens, and often scavenge birdseed, pet food, and garbage.
What Do Skunks Eat?
Skunks eat plants and animals and have a big appetite. They will eat anything edible, even garbage. Their diet changes throughout the year, but they prefer high-fat foods. Skunks will overeat, which can cause health issues. Their diet consists of 15 common foods.
Skunks enjoy eating the following foods:
- Mice
- Moles
- Voles
- Rats
- Birds
- Bird eggs
- Carrion (dead animals)
- Grasshoppers
- Wasps
- Bees
- Crickets
- Beetles
- Beetle larvae
- Fruits
- Nuts
How Do Skunks Forage and Hunt For Food?
Skunks hunt and forage at night, using their sense of smell and hearing rather than their poor eyesight. They track down smelly foods and small prey using their keen noses and hearing abilities. Skunks have powerful forearms and claws for digging, but they primarily catch prey by surprising them in their burrows, rather than relying on their speed.
What Do Skunks Eat in Summer?
Skunks in summer eat fatty foods like fish, mammals, birds, lizards, and insects to gain fat for the leaner winter months. They also consume fruits, leaves, grasses, nuts, and seeds. Skunks attack honeybee and hornet nests, eating both adults and larvae.
What Do Skunks Eat in Winter?
Skunks enter torpor, similar to hibernation, during winter but they wake up and move around or forage at night. In winter, skunks eat almost anything and their diet expands due to the scarcity of food.
Skunks living near humans may eat larger amounts of trash or garbage and also hunt for small nesting animals. However, the majority of their winter diet consists of vegetables, nuts, seeds, fruits, and carrion if available.
What Do Pet Skunks Eat?
Skunks have a diverse diet and will eat almost anything they find in the wild. This tendency continues even when they are domesticated, so it’s important to provide them with a proper diet to maintain their health.
Skunks require high-calorie foods to store fat for winter survival, but it’s crucial to avoid overfeeding them and causing obesity. Lean meats, vegetables, fruits, and complex carbohydrates like grains are ideal for their diet.
Cooked meats like chicken or fish, cooked oats, cereals, potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, berries, melons, and leafy greens are all good options. It is important to avoid processed foods, table scraps, and foods with additives and preservatives for skunks as they can cause health problems.
- Insect Protein: Mealworms, crickets, and small amounts of cooked chicken or turkey.
- Eggs: Cooked, scrambled or boiled eggs, served in moderation.
- Vegetables: Fresh vegetables like carrots, peas, and bell peppers.
- Fruits: Apples, bananas, and berries, given in small quantities.
- Quality Cat Food: High-quality, low-fat cat food as a protein source.
- Cooked Grains: Brown rice, quinoa, or barley, served in moderation.
- Fish: Cooked salmon or tuna, occasionally and in small amounts.
- Dairy: Low-lactose cheese or yogurt, in very small amounts.
- Leafy Greens: Spinach, kale, and other leafy greens for vitamins.
- Commercial Skunk Food: Specially formulated skunk diets, if available.
What Do Baby Skunks Eat?
Most female skunks give birth in late spring or early summer. Pregnant skunks find a den, gestate for 60 to 75 days, then give birth to baby skunks, or kits, measuring about 4 inches long. For the first 6 weeks, kits rely on their mother for nutrition.
They eat fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, leaves, grains, eggs, small mammals, insects, worms, snails, slugs, spiders, and grubs. If you find a baby skunk, check for the mother. Call your local wildlife rescue if the mother is not present. Baby skunks need a specialized diet and should not eat pet food. Before 6 weeks of age, captive kits should only eat formula.
At 6 weeks, introduce small amounts of adult skunk food, starting with cooked cereals in their formula and then adding veggies, fruits, and meats.
What Are Skunks Afraid of?
Skunks, known for scavenging, can be deterred from gardens and properties using specific scents. To maintain a skunk-free area, try these methods:
- Ammonia: Soak cotton balls or rags in ammonia and place them around the yard. Keep these away from children and replace as necessary.
- Citrus: Scatter lemon and orange peels, which skunks find unpleasant, or consider planting citrus trees in suitable climates.
- Capsaicin: This component in chili peppers irritates skunks’ sensitive noses.
- Vinegar: Use white vinegar, especially in a concentrated form, to annoy their nasal cavities.