Re: skunks
- To: s*@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
- Subject: Re: [SG] skunks
- From: N* S*
- Date: Sun, 4 Mar 2001 09:40:47 -0500
Marge: Is there any chance that skunks eat slugs, or is that too much to ask?
By the way, my neighbor's cat did once get into a spat with a skunk, and my
neighbor had to wash him off with tomato juice to remove the stench.
However, as far as I can tell, the cat learned its lesson. My neighbor,
however, continues to go after skunks. Now who's the brains in that family?
Nancy S. (NYC, zone 6B)
>As Nancy R. says, they will eat grubs or cat food and also mice,
>rats, moles, aphids, beetles, yellow jackets, grasshoppers, cutworms
>and earthworms. As far as I know, they don't eat plants at all.
>
>For more info. on these mild mannered and beneficial critters, see
>the Skunk & Opossum Web Site.
>
>http://granicus.if.org/~firmiss/m-d/md-main.html
>
>Rather doubt a cat would engage a skunk in any kind of debate that
>would cause the skunk to spray. They usually don't spray unless
>they feel there is no other way to get rid of whatever is threatening
>them...retreat is their first order of defense. They are
>nearsighted but have excellent senses of hearing and smell. Now,
>dogs will chase skunks and pay the consequences and if your neighbor
>isn't too bright, he/she may be trying to trap one or scare it away
>from catfood left outside, causing the skunk to retaliate.
>
>Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
>mtalt@clark.net
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>----------
>> From: Nancy Stedman <stedman@RCN.COM>
>> Date: Saturday, March 03, 2001 7:41 PM
>>
>> Does anyone know what they eat? They've suddenly started appearing
>at night.
>> Someone--possibly my neighbor's cat, more likely the cat's
>less-bright
>> owner--has been engaging in confrontations with the skunks,
>naturally
>> occasioning the inevitable result. I'm wondering if the skunks are
>being
>> drawn by the new green shoots in my garden. However, the tops of my
>bulbs
>> (primarily Spanish bluebells) have not been gnawed off.
>> Nancy S. (NYC, zone 6b)
>
