If legal in your state, how would one raise wild caught skunks without spraying with day to day care. Believe Hough fur company is doing this.

skunks actually make great pets similar too cats in general skunks don't spray unless provoked bumped into lots out turkey hunting or coon hunting even just walking home from the bar on garbage night can be interesting but most just raise there tails and walk away like any critter though as long as they have food and water they would be happy and get use to you being around

No a skunk can not be kept.

It’s not as tough as you would think it is, we can have them in SD (1) do an internet search the dos and don’ts are listed certain foods are not good for them. You need to start with a fist size one once they recognize your voice and that foods involved with your voice they have no thought of spraying. Wear gloves until you’re sure they bonded to you so food and petting are the golden ticket there.

At first this is no joke (with all the jokers on here) the fist sized ones can be snatched up by their tails without spraying it’s their body weight vs under developed sack muscles they can’t deploy. Descending them is easy but some of the Vets here in SD will do it.

Theres an exotic animal farm here that sells domesticated skunks in several colors they have a connection in WI some zoo connections there. It’s called Spectrum Ranch the guys name is Randy. If you have any questions just ask I raised Abby for 7 years she was a treat to have around.

Little begger.

Thanks Lawdog. I know of a retired pediatrist here in WI that had pet skunk, kept in house, only time it sprayed was when strange dogs came into yard !

Getting them descented a guy could do it himself but they do need to be spayed and neutered also so the males don’t become aggressive and the females will have cycling problems if they don’t breed. They are resistant to anesthesia the older they get but if give a bit too much they don’t come out of it.

One old time Vet used ether on a cotton ball on one of mine, that knocked it out quickly and gave him time to pod it out. One guy just flips them over and takes them out when they are a few weeks old. Abby had cycling issues every year because I did not know to get her fixed she required meds to get through it. They tried to knock her out to get her xrayed but I stopped it after she would not nod out she was buzzed did not want to risk killing her.

People from other states come to SD to get their skunks worked on it’s no big deal here. Look into skunks unlimited they share a lot of good info on raising skunks they are a great resource.

I would definitely get it descented. Why take the chance.

Only takes a few minutes and a little antiseptic to get it done.

I had several friends who raised skunks. They sprayed starting fluid in paper bags and then placed a young skunk inside for 20 to 30 seconds. The ether in the starting fluid anesthetized the skunks. Be careful, leaving the skunks in the bag too long will kill them. They then scraped the sacks out with a scalpel. On the males, they also removed the testicles, if they didn't want the male for breeding.

They used adult, wild trapped, skunks as their first breeders. The skunks were housed outside. Spraying was never an issue. They would just talk lightly and move slowly around the wild skunks. They very quickly become used to people. Some even become somewhat affectionate.

I would be careful if rabies is prevalent in your area.

Keith

The local Vet had a litter brought in that was having seizures she called me on what to do. I told her I wouldn’t take any chances with them it could be food related but she already knew what needed to be done. A large percentage of skunks carry the rabies virus but it’s not active in the majority of them is what the State Vet told me years back. Back then I was catching 100-125 that was common so she expected them to crash soon she said.

Turns out they did ok until we had an extended icy spring that decimated the population it’s still recovering from that from several years ago. I’ve caught complaint skunks in late winter/early spring that had almost no body weight to them. I found one in a cat cubby the same way with long nails but it was like an empty bag body wise it was eating I had it on camera coming and going but just died in the barrel.

It's always seemed stupid to me that in Ohio you can't keep an animal alive, that you caught from the wild, that you can literally legally kill as many as you can of, for parts to all of the year.

Keith

In NC, we can only keep and transport live fox and coyotes and are limited as to how long we can hold them before they are sold to a fox pen.

Most everything else is either released on the property where it was caught or euthanized.

I knew folks when I was a kid that had a pet raccoon. But the rabies threat put a stop to al of that. When asked why they did not vaccinate them for rabies like dogs and cats, the answer was there was no tested and approved vaccination protocol for wild animals and they were not going to do all of the studies required to develop a protocol.

Squirrels can only be trapped on a nuisance permit but they do allow us to relocate them.

The US Federal government and state governments both frequently orally vaccinate wildlife against rabies with vaccine laden baits, even though they haven't been supposedly well tested.

Keith

I would love to raise a descented neutered pet skunk. But it is not legal to keep them without a permit in Utah. And the state will not issue a permit for wild animals as pets.

Mom had a skunk when she was young. I don't think it was fixed or had pods removed.

Agree, the government likes to spend money on feel good projects whether they work or not.

There are a few books on amazon that are from the "old" days when people raised skunks for fur. I bought 1 and it is interesting reading, talks about pen construction, housing, feeding, breeding, and desenting.

Here in SD we can have only one of the varmint type critters that covers most of what we have the furbearer/game type critters are not allowed. So fox, coyote, coon, badgers, jack rabbits, possums and skunks can be kept with a valid hunting license.

It’s all about the rabies exposure. More bites means more people needing care. The easiest way to control exposures is to outlaw the conditions where people could be exposed.

If memory serves, rabies can be transplacentally spread to the next generation. Many skunks won’t show signs they have it.

With all the skunks and rabid critters trappers handle each year, you’d think America would be crawling with rabies cases in humans. I don’t know what the incident rate is, but one human case and one human death due to rabies gets international attention. Maybe it’s time we change laws and stop being so overly protective. And yet, just one human rabies case in one state that lowered its guard will end the discussion of loosening the rules in all states. IMHO.

About 1/4 of the tiny number of rabies cases in people in the US come from exposure in other countries. Many of the other cases are in Puerto Rico, which though part of the US, is very different from the rest of the country.

Keith