I would bet my spring thaw comes two to three weeks later than yours and my freeze up is that much before yours. So I would have a month to a month and a half longer denning season on a normal year. Skunks and coon seem to make it through just fine here, unless they get a disease. I have found a number of coon and skunks dead in the field and all were very thin in the winter and spring. I can't say dehydration ever crossed my mind. I even found a coon on a dyke road that was still breathing, but would not move. I am guessing it was distemper. There was water both sides of him. How are your coon numbers compared to normal?

We are at an all time low for many species here in SD skunks have always been the exception they have taken hits before but bounced back quickly. Skunk numbers have never been this low in the 45 years I’ve lived in SD. Just not finding dead ones anywhere I’ve not heard of anyone finding dead ones that goes with the past die offs where they were found in large numbers.

Dehydration/starvation is not unusual in other species so I would not rule it out. Almost no skunks/coon hit on the roads but the coons are in better shape than the skunks are in. Coyotes are down also but that’s due to the state programs.

Washington DC is loaded with them. You could pick up several weasels there too.

Our northern N.Y. Skunk population
seemed to be at a very low ebb this fall.

It shall be interesting to see if they start to show up
hit along the roads during our January thaw this week
along with the approaching breeding season.

w

Is your wolf population high?Wolves just love to shred skunks.

Iowa trapper association has a YouTube channel and has a video of skunk trapping.....I found it very good and stuff I learned.....

Nope the wolverines keep the wolves in check.

So no wolves in south Dakota?

I was in MO last summer covered a lot of the state looking for truck parts for the trucks I collect. The Joplin area had by far the most amount of skunks they were everywhere dead on the roads.

In the zoo only, we had an open season the year around East River years ago until the Feds got involved. A guy shot one a couple of years ago thinking it was a coyote it was ruled an accident.

You keep them up there. Caught one on one property and seen another caught on another property in the last 7 years. We don’t even see or smell them on the roads anymore. One was enough for me!

Darn coon, I find skunks attracted to old brush piles, abandoned buildings or barns, and brushy, grassy odd areas that harbor lots of insects and mice.

Around late February, if our weather is pretty warm, early March, if our weather in February is cooler, there will be skunks hit all over on the roads around here in Ohio. There will be several dead skunks per mile in some stretches.

Keith

Skunks are a favorite of mine. A rarely get a call for one but when I do it's an easy sell job, lol. Problem though is about half the time it ends up being a dead one in the crawlspace.

This and I’ll add junk pile's and stacked hay

In Washington D.C!!!

Skunks like to hang around water also.I have caught plenty in mink boxes.