Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 15, 12:01 AM. A tiny baby skunk (with an enormous head and tail) is on its way to being a model in my yard. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 15, 2011, 12:03 AM. Practicing looking fierce, the baby is walking on a 4 1/2" wide catwalk. The fence boards behind the skunk are 5 1/2" wide (click on photo to enlarge.)
Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 14, 11:40 PM. Last night, as I drove up the hill, I saw at least 4 baby skunks foraging around trashcans at different houses.
Message to neighbors - slow down as you drive the hill!
I did not see the mother. I suspect she had just gone through my yard. The eau de skunk was quite strong at my gate. The tiniest little skunk was unclear on which end to point at me. (The babies have little skunk farts - they can't project their stink yet.)
I'm not sure who was more surprised, me or the baby skunk, when I almost stepped on it on the stairs to the front door. As I unloaded the car, the baby kept foraging and was not backing off when I took a few photos.
Before you send your hate mail to redcarproperty@gmail.com, The outdoor flood lights were on. I limited the number of frames shot to 12. It only seemed mildly annoyed and had ample opportunity to leave. I talked to the skunk between shots, ensuring it knew I was still there. I was at least 12 feet away, zooming in with the point & shoot. My immediate neighbors and I do not feed our pets outside. The skunks are foraging naturally - hopefully for Jerusalem Crickets. This is my first nighttime baby skunk encounter in about 15 years. See the daytime encounters here.
