For the past week, I'm woken up at 3:00am or 4:00am by the smell of skunk. When we finally get up for the day, we can smell skunk but I can't pinpoint the source. We have cat bowls on our porch but I know the skunk hasn't been there and there isn't anything else around to attract them.

It's very strange that it's happened night after night at the same time. I would think that a skunk has a regular route and is just wandering buy on his nightly travels. But that doesn't explain the smell lingering until morning. It's strong enough that I think he's actually spraying every night but not in my yard. The fact that I can't locate the source makes me think he's a ways away when he does this and it's drifting in on the breeze - although it's pretty strong. Strong enough that he's sprayed somewhere.

Would a skunk spray the same spot every night to mark his territory? I can't think of any other reason we'd have the recurring smell.

Could.be an animal that got sprayed by a skunk that comss by or a skunk that recently sprayed.

Another thing too about skunk smell is that anytime you get sufficient moisture in the air, ttr thiols in the spray reactivate and give off the smell again.

I don't think they mark but I have heard they fight during breexing season and I get the same thing here at certain times.Hoping someone with more knowledge will weigh in.

Maybe you ticked off a neighbor down the road. Some of us have an ample supply of essence. LOL

I know a guy who once put a live skunk in somebody's mailbox. I don't think my neighbors hate me enough to do that.

No, Defense mechanism only as far as I know. Probably has something to do with wind direction and the air cooling at night. Dead skunk stink can come and go for weeks. If his travel path is close to a dog or other critter that is giving him problems he may nail them every night before he or the other party gets tired of it. We have one that wakes the wife up almost every week and sometimes multiple nights in the same week. Never wakes me up the smell has never bugged me. To much anhydrous ammonium over the years so my sniffer is shot. Good luck

If my name was territory, then I would say yes they do.

Seen this fair amount. Dead skunk , even partially or improperly buried. Dead in burrow counts too. As wind/humidity/temperature changes, smell will perk up more on some days to none on another day.

Come and go for weeks , yes. I've also seen it last for as long as 6 months with the right conditions.

This is not the skunk breeding season. I too have been awakened by the smell of a skunk. Why they do this is beyond me. There does not appear to be anything threatening the skunk. I don't believe they mark territories, but I believe a young skunk is more apt to spray than an older one. I have moved hundreds of skunks and never been sprayed.

Try kicking one off your property, you;ll find out how territorial they are!

Never know though

Skunks DO NOT SPRAY to mark territory. It is strictly a defensive weapon. Others have mentioned how this could be hapening, and I agree that something is causing that skunk to puff a bit or he has blasted something close to you, and your just getting the odor once in awhile because of wind currents and temp change.