Calling All Creatures Presents Black, White, and Stink All Over

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Good evening everybody, and welcome to Calling our Creatures. I
am your host, Lori, and tonight we have a really
good podcast. I hope it's gonna be very informative for
those of you out there. I'm calling this one black
white and stink all over and not meaning it in

(00:21):
a bad way for stink all over. But we're going
to talk about skunks. And you know, people know skunks
spray and they can smell, so hence the topics name.
But anyway, tonight I have Julie McLaughlin on with me,
and she is the co founder of Indiana Skunk Rescue

(00:41):
and she is hopefully going to impart some more wisdom
and facts to all of us about skunks and living
with them and if you happen to encounter room and
stuff like that. So Julie, welcome to the podcast. I'm
so glad you were able to come on tonight and
talk with me about skunks.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Thank you very much for having me. I really appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (01:04):
Yeah, I thought it'd be really cool to talk about skunks.
It's an animal, you know, Like I said that a
lot of people don't really favor unless, of course, you
have to people because you can get pat skunks. We'll
talk about that too, but you know, so hopefully we
can get some more information out to people and maybe
we can all learn a little bit more. I know,
I'm always up for learning more about things. So good.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
Yeah, I really think they're probably the least life wild
eye for they're at the bottom.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
Oh you know, yep, I think yep. I think between
them and maybe possums.

Speaker 2 (01:42):
Yep.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
So anyway, well, why don't we just kind of start
out and I'll have you tell us maybe just a
little bit about yourself. I mean, what drew you personally
to wanting to work with skunks. I mean, was there
some specific moment or some specific skunk in particular that

(02:04):
kind of got you started in this?

Speaker 2 (02:08):
Both is what made me. I'm the founder of Indiana
Skunk Rescue, and I had always wanted as skunk. They
always fascinated me. I always thought they were really cute
and if I would see them at a pet store,
because they used to be at pet stores in Indiana,
I would always, you know, hold them, and I wanted

(02:30):
one so bad, but I had miniaturable terriers, and terriers
and skunks just are not going to mix. Now, it
doesn't matter Oh, my terriers so wonderful, you know, I'm
sure they are. My terriers were wonderful. But DNA is DNA.
You cannot change that exactly. You know, they're not going

(02:53):
to put up with a skunk because a skunk plays
the same way as when it's angry, and that body
language is very confusing for some dogs, especially terriers. When
a skunk plays, it puffs all up. I get stuck
as little Paul in an electrical outlet, you know, all
its airs up, and it stomps and runs towards them

(03:16):
and spins around and runs backwards and runs back towards them,
and terriers are like, oh, you know what, you need
to die. You don't understand. So when my last terrier
passed away, not that I wanted them to, but I
it happened to be skunk season. You can only buy

(03:40):
skunks once a year. They're only available in like June
and July. Skunks only breed once a year. So I
found a breeder and I went and I purchased a skunk. Now,
since I was like fourteen years old, I've always done
some kind of rescue or done something to help animals.

(04:01):
Basically my whole life I've done horse rescue, bree specific
dog rescue, and when I got this little skunk, there's
not a whole lot of information about skunks. So he
was very different, very very different. He was very aggressive,
he was not friendly no matter how much I held him,

(04:27):
everything scared him. I mean, things just were not right.
When I went online and tried to ask, I'll be honest,
I got blamed for it. You're doing this wrong, you're
doing that wrong. And it's like I'm not doing anything wrong. So,
to make a long story short, ended up taken into

(04:48):
the VET, ended up taking into a specialist that she
referred me to. And my skunk was born totally blind.
Wasn't that big of a deal because skunks can't see
very well anyway. So we just adjusted, like when I
wanted something, I would tap and then you know, he
would come. And that a lot of his problems was

(05:11):
he was blind. I didn't know it even though they
can't see very well. Huh. And So when I was
going through all of that and I realized there just
wasn't very much help out there, especially not very nice help,
I thought, you know what, I'm going to start a

(05:32):
silk rescue. So Rachel miracle. She had got her skunk
at the same time I got mine. We became friends.
We met through my Stone Cabin issues on Facebook the
chat groups, and she'd come in with me to start
Indiana Skunk Rescue. Unfortunately, because of COVID and different things,

(05:56):
Rachel doesn't help very much. Like in the last five years.
She's still on all my licenses and permits, and I
hope somedays she'll be able to come back and help
like she did, but right now she can't, not that
she doesn't want to. And I thought, well, if I'm
going to do domestic skunk, then I might as well

(06:19):
do wild skunks. I don't hear of wild skunks meeting
help very often. Boy was I wrong on that. I
just didn't know. I help over a hundred wild skunks
a year and right around one hundred domestic skunks a year. Wow.

Speaker 1 (06:41):
When you stop and think about the numbers, and it's
just I mean, basically, you that's a lot every year.

Speaker 2 (06:48):
It is a lot, you know.

Speaker 1 (06:50):
I don't think people realize the numbers when you know,
I don't know. I don't know if they just don't
think about the fact that a lot of these rescues
or I shouldn't say a lot, but some rescues do
a lot of their stuff, you know, on their own
by themselves. They don't have a lot of volunteers or
a lot of other people that are helping them at
their rescues because you know, and like you were saying,

(07:12):
you know, you have permits and stuff like that, so
you know, it just kind of depends on what they
can and can't do. But I don't think people realize
just how much work it is, and they don't realize
I don't think how many animals that you know, as
like a single person rescue that you help out and
take care of.

Speaker 2 (07:31):
Yeah, it's astronomical. Like when I first started, I got
my Wildlife Rehab license to wear. I'm licensed to do
any mammal that the State of Indiana has, and I
pretty much have done all of them. I've never done
a bobcat and I have not done a beaver. Everything
else I'm pretty sure has been in my home. And say,
that's another thing. Most of us we don't have big

(07:53):
facilities with Like you said, a lot of volunteers are
paid staff. Some people do, but those are few and
far between. The majority of us work out of our homes.
So we're doing this in our living room and kitchen,
in our rooms and you know, and that's where all
the animals are until they get moved outside, like when

(08:14):
they're little babies, because they have to go to outdoor
pre release enclosures. They can't just live in your house
and then throw them outside.

Speaker 1 (08:22):
Right.

Speaker 2 (08:24):
Yeah, I was doing you know, deer, possums, raccoons, skunks,
and then it got to be too much because well
I'm old, fat and crippled, and it's just like this
is a lot. So last year and this year I
just started. I just specialize in skunks. Now I have
a couple subs and they'll do some phones and raccoons.

(08:47):
I think we have thirty some raccoons, but they're not
at my house.

Speaker 1 (08:53):
Well that's all.

Speaker 2 (08:53):
I'm sticking with skunks here. Wow.

Speaker 1 (08:58):
I know, like I said, I don't think realized just
you know, sometimes the amount of work when it's and
it's funny because I don't know why. But I was
just thinking about I had a lady on not too
long ago. She does she does hamster and some guinea
pig rescue. But oh yeah, okay, so then you might know.

(09:22):
I mean, even though these are little like hamsters and stuff.
They have great big tubs, I mean for them to
have a decent habitat.

Speaker 2 (09:31):
Right, Oh yeah, and then you got the wheels and
the food and the chewy. Yeah, and there enclosures and
they're bedding.

Speaker 1 (09:38):
And yeah, and these tubs and yeah, yeah, I know.
And she was telling me when I was talking to
her once that she has these tubs set up. I
don't remember if it was like a separate room or
her kitchenera or where they were all at, but she's like, yeah,
when we're you know, trying to change bedding and feed

(09:59):
and take care of all of them, She's like, literally,
I only have enough room to just kind of barely
walk between the tubs.

Speaker 2 (10:07):
Yes, my is a maize right now. Yeah, it's so hot.
I do have some I have over one hundred, and
everybody is in a fifty five gallon tote and they're
in by their own litter. So, if you know, some

(10:27):
toads have six some toads have two skungs and them
and it's just a maze of todes and some of
them could go outside right now, but it is so
extremely hot. I'm hoping the weather will break. I mean,
I have fans and everything, and I know they would

(10:49):
be outside anyway, But skunks live under things, you know.
They like to dig tunnels and it's cooler under. They
can't do that in my outdoor enclosures because they would escape,
right yep. So I'm trying to hold off on putting
them outside.

Speaker 1 (11:09):
Yeah, yeah, I don't blame you on that. I mean
I would too, because, yeah, you don't want them to
get too hot. So we've talked a little bit about
why and how how your skunk rescue got started. Why
don't you explain to everybody out there kind of what
your actual mission is at the rescue.

Speaker 2 (11:34):
My mission is obviously to save skunks and to change
people's perspective of skunks. That is like my main goal
above all elves. I do educational programs. I try to
do as many as I possibly can. I've done two

(11:54):
this week plus this podcast. Yeah, everybody is so afraid
of skunks. Go to bending events, and I want people
to love skunks, or if you don't love them, at
least respect them and get the correct perspective of what
they actually are. Because I believe that our grandparents and

(12:17):
great grandparents and our parents, because you know, I'm sixty.
They all told us things about skunks that are not
true because as kids, we don't mind, and they didn't
want us getting sprayed because they didn't want to deal
with the smell. So I think they kind of over
exaggerated what skunks really were so that you would be

(12:37):
afraid of them and leave them alone.

Speaker 1 (12:39):
Yeah, maybe that sounds about what they would have done.

Speaker 2 (12:47):
I'm here. I'm not using them of anything because they're
not here to defend themselves, but I'm thinking maybe that's
what they did.

Speaker 1 (12:54):
But I mean, I'm right there. I'm right there with you.
I'm about the same age, So yeah, I know what
you're talking about. Yeah, there was a lot of different things.
I used to tell us. We're not going to get
into it though, Yeah, so I.

Speaker 2 (13:10):
And most of it was fast. Yeah, and everybody still
just believes it. I mean, even if you google it,
it's on Googling. It's like, are you really? I mean,
come on, right, that's not right. Right.

Speaker 1 (13:24):
Well, and now that we're talking a little bit about that,
why don't you go ahead and just give us a
little bit more information about skunks in general, like their diets,
their habitats, life spans, you know, stuff like that, just
a little bit more information so people can kind of
familiar familiarize themselves a little bit more with them.

Speaker 2 (13:45):
For wild or domestics.

Speaker 1 (13:50):
There's gonna be a bit of a difference. Why don't
we do just I mean, because some people, I don't
know how much people in counter room in the wild.
But let's start out with the wild ones.

Speaker 2 (13:59):
Okay, while skunks live everywhere, I mean, they live in
the city, they live in the country, they live in
neighbor in suburb land. They're extremely docile. They really really are.
If you have a skunk living under your shed or
under your port, or living anywhere on your property, or

(14:23):
you're out in the woods taking a walk and you
see a skunk. Skunks can't see very well, okay at all.
All they're interested in is food. They could care less
about you. Now, there's exceptions to every single world. Always, always,
there's going to be that one or two that runs
it for everybody with anything in life. But they will

(14:46):
they will not come out and chase you down and
spray you. They're not trigger happy like that. Now, babies
will spray faster than an adult will. If you catch
a baby in a trap or you start messing with
the baby, it's going to spray you faster because it
hasn't figured out what dangers are really really dangerous yet.

(15:10):
But if you talk to them, like let's say you
have some living underneath your deck, you can cut your grass.
You can go out there and have picnics, barbecues, set
out there, some babe, do whatever you want. Those skunks
are not willing to come out and bother you, not
at all, unless you feed them. Then they're going to
come to you for food. But if you leave them alone,

(15:31):
they will leave you alone. If they're in your shed,
well under your shed, you can still go out in
your shed, get your lawnmower, get your gardening equipment, do
anything that you want to. Skunks are prey animals. They're
not predators, so they think you're going to kill them
and eat them, so they don't chase you down. They're prey.

(15:55):
They hide, they run, That's why they spray. They spray
so they can take off running to get away. They're
not going to run up to you and bite you
or spray you. Then people are like, well, my dog,
my dog gets sprayed all the time. Oh yeah, because
your dog ran up to that skunk. Barking and carrying on.
The skunk thought your dog was gonna eat it. The

(16:18):
skunk didn't run up to your dog and spray it, you.

Speaker 1 (16:22):
Know, Well, yeah, that is true. I mean I have
never seen, well I have never seen a skunk run
up to just spray a dog.

Speaker 2 (16:32):
It doesn't have the other way around, unfortunately, And like
skunks with chickens, people are like, oh, it's killing my chickens.
No it's not. Again, there's always exceptions to every single rule.
But on a rule, skunks are not chicken killers. What
happens is, and I'm not going to name species and
call them out. Something else kills your chicken. Then what

(16:55):
happens is skunks can't see very well. They're lazy, they're slow.
That species has eaten everything that it wanted to from
the chicken. It leaves. The skunk wanders up and it eats,
and then it gets caught, so it pays for a
crime it did not commit. If that makes any.

Speaker 1 (17:17):
Sense, Well, don't they I think I was just gonna say,
don't they? That's what I was just gonna say. Don't they?
More so they would go more so for the chicken
eggs than they would I think for the chicken.

Speaker 2 (17:30):
Yeah, yes, they are egg thieves. Yeah, you know, everybody
has extra eggs at least around here. People are begging,
you know, to get rid of their eggs. So I
think missing one or two shouldn't cost anything their life.

Speaker 1 (17:46):
Yeah, you know. Saying that, it reminded me of a story.
I had a gentleman one time. I got called out
to and for animal control and he had chickens and
he thought the skunks were killing his chickens and like
ripping their heads off, and I'm well, yeah, I'm kind

(18:08):
of looking at him and I'm like, well, why would
they do that?

Speaker 2 (18:12):
I mean, they'll pop it, they'll do that.

Speaker 1 (18:17):
Well, it was it was owls in this case. Well, yeah,
they owl would swoop down and try to grab the chicken,
but it would o'l hawk whatever. It would swoop down
and try to grab the chicken, but it would just
get the head and then as it was trying to
take so it was pulling the heads off. So he's yeah,

(18:38):
so he had to put some you know, the whatever
the things across and around to try to keep the
the raptors from going after his chickens. I was but
I was just like looking at him, like, dude, I
don't think the skunks are pulling their heads off. I
just don't. They don't don't do that as far as
I know. They would go after the eggs. But yeah,

(19:00):
so yeah, it was just an interesting story. Reminded me
of that.

Speaker 2 (19:04):
With that, that's the first time I've ever heard of
birds of prey just pulling off heads. Well, it was
just raccoons will because they stick their little hands through
you know, well they can grab is the head because
chickens are nosy, so they walk upright, what's this raccoon.

Speaker 1 (19:20):
Doing right, Well, in this case, it was you know,
the raptor was trying to take the chicken for the meal.
But like I said, it can only so the weight
of the chicken. They weren't able to pick up the
weight of the chicken but from just a head. So
that's what was happening. Yeah, because he had fat chickens,
and so yeah, the chicken way too much.

Speaker 2 (19:40):
They are so afraid of them that the very first
time it happened, I thought I was being pranked. You
know how radio shows do those pranks on people, Uh huh,
And I get a call and they say they're a
nine to one one operator and like, okay, well there's
some campers that are wanting to to enjoy nature. True story,

(20:01):
this has happened more than once. So if you persus
skunk family and it is running their nature enjoyment and
will you please go and get the skunk family, and like, no, what?

Speaker 1 (20:19):
I I just really believe this.

Speaker 2 (20:24):
But I ended up. I asked the nine one one
operator for the families, like could I have their phone
number or could they have them please call me? And
we talked it through and they stayed for the weekend
and they were perfectly fine. But when you go camping.

Speaker 3 (20:41):
Because of things like that, even if you enjoy something,
please remain from feeding any animal, whether it be a skunk,
a bear, raccoon, a box, a cougar, whatever, don't feed
them because yeah, because then somebody else comes along and
they don't think that's cute and they're afraid and it

(21:03):
costs that animal their life.

Speaker 2 (21:04):
They pay with their lives.

Speaker 3 (21:06):
YEP.

Speaker 2 (21:07):
I personally don't see. I mean, I don't know if
it's hungry feeted, but you can't because.

Speaker 1 (21:14):
You know these people, you know, and people don't think
it's just like I'm sorry, I don't want to go
off topic, but I gotta mention this. It's like these
people going up to these wild bison and Yellowstone and
getting gord and I'm thinking, what's wrong with you? Why
would you go near It's awful?

Speaker 2 (21:32):
It's like, oh yeah, I'm like.

Speaker 1 (21:34):
Why would you go near a two thousand pounds wild
animal with horns? That makes no sense to me? And
So because of how many I'm actually have scheduled a podcast.
I think it's going to be in October. I'm having
a bison expert on with me because we're going to
talk about bison and why you should stay away from
them and some other things.

Speaker 2 (21:55):
Right, we'll try to find that video on TikTok. Not
to digress or go off subject, but there's a video
on TikTok that has went viral and it looks like
this little boy is probably three or four and his
mother it's that Yellowstone is getting him to go up
and pet this wild biasin Yeah, like, but that could

(22:19):
have been so so horri so horrible.

Speaker 1 (22:21):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 2 (22:22):
I was afraid to watched the video until I read
the comments to make sure that I wasn't going to
watch something horrible.

Speaker 1 (22:28):
Happen right right exactly that's crazy. Okay, all right, let's
go back on topic now. Okay, So yeah, so while
oh and that was I wanted to say too. With
skunks too, isn't it unless they're aren't they more nomads?
I mean they don't really stay in one place, do they?
Or do they? I mean, I know when they're heaven there,

(22:51):
they're young, they have dens and stuff like that, but
don't they normally just kind of travel around. They don't
stay too long in one place.

Speaker 2 (22:58):
Yes, my phone's ringing off the hook right now. With
moms and babies, will you please come get them? And
my standards beaches? Can you please? If you see the
mom out with the babies, well I'm begging you, can
you live with it two or three more weeks? Because
when she's bringing those mom and babies out, unless you're

(23:18):
feeding her, remove all food sources. Okay. Remember they're lazy,
and if you're feeding them with anything, it's going to
stick around a lot longer, because why go hunt for
food when it knows at six o'clock you're putting a
plate of dinner out for it. So remove your bird feeders.
Don't feed your birds. And I know that's horrible. I
feed birds, and I have to do it every year

(23:40):
over raccoons. No bird food, no cat food. Outside. Skunks
cannot climb. So if you have feral cats, I'm not
saying starve your cats. Put it up on your death
railly or put it on your table, your outdoor table
or anywhere up Hie. Skunks don't climb because they have

(24:02):
calls like a cat and little bitty, teeny tiny legs.
That's why you never see them in a tree. Once
she starts bringing these babies out, she's gonna take them
farther and farther away, and within two or three weeks
she's gonna leave with them, and you're never gonna see
her or those babies again, unless she thought your house
was the most awesome place to raise her babies at.

(24:25):
If she's still alive, she'll come back next year and
raise her family again. So when she leaves and you
don't see them anymore, then you can fix you know
where she had made a din and close that up
if you don't want her back next year. Yeah, but
they are. That's why you never see a group or
a pack or a herd of skunks there unless it's

(24:48):
a mother and babies there's one there. They're solitary and
they're nomads.

Speaker 1 (24:55):
Now, what about their diets? I mean they they eat
a a few different things if I remember right, like insects, grubs,
of course they do, like cat food and stuff like that. Yeah,
so the.

Speaker 2 (25:09):
Free mills, those are great. They need absolutely everything. They're omnivores,
so they're actually good to have around. Like if skunks
did live in a herd, if you had a bunch
of skunks living in your barn, that would be better
than a bunch of cats. Realistically, they kill mice, rats.
They're immune to venoms. So if you lived in a

(25:30):
state that had you had a problem with biting a snake,
So they'll go into a snake nest and wipe all
of those out.

Speaker 1 (25:38):
Really, I didn't know they were.

Speaker 2 (25:40):
Gloves and bugs out of your yard. They eat everything,
they're omnivores.

Speaker 1 (25:47):
I did not know that they were immune to venom.
That's interesting. I mean I knew possums. Is the possums
I'm thinking of? Probably, Yeah, I think so. I think,
so we have possums are the other one that is

(26:08):
immune to venom. Interesting, I didn't know that about skunks. See,
I learned something new tonight.

Speaker 2 (26:14):
Yeah, and they love bees, so like, if you're a
bee keeper, that skunk should probably get on your last nerve.
But because they love honey and they also eat the bees.
But yeah, they eat all insects, rodents, reptiles, roadkill, anything
they can get their little short, tiny palls on.

Speaker 1 (26:38):
Interesting, So what about domestic skunks. I know people are like,
what do you mean domestic skunks? You ask people have
pet skunks. What about the domestic skunks?

Speaker 2 (26:49):
Yeah, they're not legal in very many states. They are
legal here in Arizona are Indiana. I'm sorry I had
you on my mind. They're not legal in your state
to have as pets, but they're only legal in seventeen states.
Every state has their own proper permits and licenses that

(27:09):
you have to have in order to obtain them. So
talking about how you can get a skunk, you need
to check with your state Fishing, Wildlife or Department in
National Resources dn R to see if it's legal in
your state and what you have to do to get one.
For example, in Indiana, we can have we can have anything,

(27:29):
absolutely anything with a proper permits and licenses, And with
a skunk, you register it with dn R within five
days of buying your skunk. They have to come from
a licensed reader. Nothing's allowed out to take it out
of the wild and keep it as a pet. They
come decented and you have to have all the proper paperwork.

(27:51):
You have to register it with dn R in order
to have one as a pet in Michigan. Same thing.
The only state that you you can have a wild
skunk in is Wyoming. If that is still true, I'm
assuming it is. I haven't heard that it has changed
every other state. They have to be from a licensed
breeder and you have to register them with your state.

(28:15):
And in Michigan you have to buy them in Michigan.
You cannot import into the state of Michigan. Same thing
with Pennsylvania. You cannot. Like nobody could adopt a skunk
for me and take it to Michigan or take it
to Pennsylvania. It has to be within that state.

Speaker 1 (28:32):
Well that's interesting, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (28:35):
And what's really interesting is Okay, Michigan for example, since
it's a neighbor state, I know most of their laws.
You can own a domesticated skunk, you cannot import it.
It has to be bred and raised by a domesticated
breeder within the state of Michigan. But Michigan wildlife rehabbers
are not allowed to rehabilitate wild skunks. They die. So

(29:01):
you can own a domesticated one, bit it's illegal to
help a wild one.

Speaker 1 (29:07):
Okay, I'm sorry. I don't even know why. That's making
perfect sense to me right now, just because that's just
the way the world is. And there's a lot of
things that don't make sense, but you know, they happen.

(29:28):
So yeah, I just I can't I don't even know,
but yeah, and it's interesting too that you know, you
can't import them from a breeder in another state either.
I'm wondering why on that as well.

Speaker 2 (29:49):
I mean, well then it even gets more weirder because
and I'm not jogging Michigan. I mean, I have a
lot of Michigan skunk owner people that I like a lot.
It's just there. Every state has its own laws, and
some of them are really different.

Speaker 1 (30:09):
Well, you're talking to an ex Michigander, so we can
talk about it because I'm originally from Michigan, born and raised.

Speaker 2 (30:17):
Okay, So you know, Michigan has brabies pretty bad in
certain areas, and that is why you cannot rehab any
wild skunks. It's because of rabies, and you know, I
kind of it's sad because they're little babies. You know,
they don't have rabies, but there's no cure for rabies,
and you know, so I, on one hand, I get it.

(30:41):
On the other hand, is absolutely horrible, but you have
to keep them in Michigan that does have rabies. But
like over here in Indiana knocked on wood, we don't
have brabies that bad, so it seems like it would
be safer to get one from here than there. But
I don't know why.

Speaker 1 (31:01):
Well, and I was thinking either way, I mean, both
states are requiring like permits and licenses for breeders to
do this with the skunks. I mean, I don't know
how different because I don't know, you know, the regulations
for each state, but I don't know how much different
the regulations would be between you know, Michigan and Indiana
for the skunk breeders. But yeah, you would think that,

(31:24):
I mean, I'm just saying you would think that they
would have to kind of have the same standards.

Speaker 2 (31:31):
As they do. It's very very similar.

Speaker 1 (31:35):
Yeah, so that's kind of interesting. And like you said,
Indiana does have less rabies than what Michigan does. It's
interesting how states, you know, come do their laws and
stuff like that and their restrictions on different things. So
that's it's interesting to know that.

Speaker 2 (31:49):
And you know there has to be a reason, you know,
just like when they say don't use your hair dryer
in the shower. There's a reason. So you know, maybe
something happened, maybe somebody had some skunks and they ended
up being rabid. I don't know, yeah, but I just
know that's their law. And the same thing with Pennsylvania.
Then it's either North or South Carolina. Their law is

(32:14):
you are This one's hilarious. You are allowed to purchase
you can have a domesticated pet skunk. It has to
be purchased within the state. You're not allowed to breathe
domesticated skunks in the state. Wait, uh huh, you heard
it right.

Speaker 1 (32:35):
Okay, I can't.

Speaker 2 (32:37):
Or how are you supposed to get one? Oh my gosh,
you have to purchase them from the state. You're not
allowed to breed any in the state, but they're legal
to have. So way of just getting rid of domesticated skunk.

Speaker 1 (32:53):
I was gonna say, what are you supposed to do?
Wait until you see a mom of worldly young babies
and go out and snatch the babies and raise them.

Speaker 2 (33:00):
No, you're not allowed taking all the wild and.

Speaker 1 (33:02):
Then you're not allowed to take him on a wild
Okay then all right, well yeah, that pretty much does
a weigh with any ownership of any kind of skunk
in that state.

Speaker 2 (33:13):
Yeah. Now, the governor at Tennessee a few years ago,
he was in hot water because he had domesticated skunk's
pets when he was little. He loves them, so he
was going to make them legal for in Tennessee. It's
illegal to own a domesticated skunk in Tennessee, and he
thought it was ridiculous and he was going to pass

(33:35):
the law. He was going to make it legal. That
was one of his missions because he had him when
he was a kid, loved them, and the veterinary board
told him, you fine, go ahead, but if anyone gets ravies,
it's on you. So he buckled and no, no, no,

(33:56):
you can't. Can't have them as pets.

Speaker 1 (33:58):
So again I understand that whatever the case may be,
Obviously a skunk doesn't get a raby shot like a
dog or a cat would. But the fishing game do
put out food baits with rabies vaccinations or what is

(34:20):
stuff in them for the skunks to eat to help
prevent them from getting rabies. So why couldn't that be
done with a domesticated skunk.

Speaker 2 (34:31):
Exactly? Now, I do. I vaccinate everything that comes on
this property for just temper parvo lepto rabies, everything, just
like you would your cat or dog. Okay, is like
almost all wildlife except possums because their body temperatures so low.
But almost all wildlife is considered rabies vector species. And

(34:53):
all that means is they're more prone to get rabies
than your dog or cat because your dog and cat
has vaccines available, whereas wildlife does not have vaccines available.
So rabies vector species means they're more prone to have
rabies because there's no vaccine available. Now it has been

(35:16):
proven that the vaccine works on scumps, it does. I
talked to the drug companies.

Speaker 1 (35:25):
You want to do something interesting. You know, veterinarians won't
give wolf and wolf hybrids the rabies vaccination either, because
they say, whatever it is, they don't think it would work.
And I talked to what I talked to one of
the manufacturers, I think from Rabbavac, and I asked them
about that too, and I said, why what's up with that?

(35:46):
Because I was curious, and he said, why wouldn't it
work on a wolf when a dog is comes to
it's a canine, it's a canine. So yeah, he kind
of laughed about that. That veterinarians, but they do. They
argue about that. So I imagine the same thing here.

Speaker 2 (36:03):
Now it works, and like my veterinarian knows that it
works most of the skunk there's not very many veterinarians
that see skunks. They have to be an exotic veterinarian,
not just your regular dog and cat veterinarian. And then
that exotic has to want to see skunks. So if
you do have a domestic one, it's hard to find
a bet. Yeah, but they do work, and the drug

(36:25):
companies know that they work. I've called them, I've talked
to them, and their response was it is not financially
in our best interest to FDA approved the rabies vaccine,
and really so they won't. They said it would cost

(36:46):
millions of dollars to get Whether they know it works
or they know it doesn't work. They know it worked,
but if it did or didn't, they have to get
it FDA approved, and it would cost millions of dollars
and there's not enough domestic skunk owners to make it
worth their interest. There's a guy right now petitioning the
drug companies and the FDA to get a raccoon vaccine

(37:11):
so that they don't have to die if they fight
or scratch somebody.

Speaker 1 (37:17):
Yeah, because that just happened in was it New York
that that gentleman he had. I think it was a
raccoon and a squirrel, and I can't remember whichever one
it was that bit the person.

Speaker 2 (37:29):
But.

Speaker 1 (37:31):
Number one, the squirrel was it was it the squirrel
that bit, so I don't.

Speaker 2 (37:36):
Know it was that. Yeah, he had a raccoon in
dn R. Come but you know on that story, I'm
not dogging Peanut or or those people. I don't know
those people. I felt horrible, It would be horrible. I
couldn't even imagine that. Well, if I'd never ever have
to go through something like that that they had asked

(37:57):
him to get like proper. Maybe I'm wrong, but they
had been asking him, you know, to get the proper
licenses and permits, and he just hadn't gotten around to
it yet. I heard President Trump was going to say that,
you know that wasn't going to happen anymore, but I

(38:17):
haven't heard anything else about that. Yeah, it is horrible
because if they bite or even scratch and break skin,
then you're supposed to kill them and test them for rabies.
I mean, it is a federal law.

Speaker 1 (38:33):
Well, the thing is, squirrels are not a rabies vector animal. No,
so a number one and that's not going to get
into this whole interesting twist. But that's what I always
found kind of interesting with the fact that a squirrel's mice,
you know, those types of small animals, even if they
did contract rabies, that virus would kill them so quickly

(38:54):
that there's no way that they'd be able to ever
pass it to another animal.

Speaker 2 (38:58):
But so why did they kill penut?

Speaker 1 (39:00):
That's what I'm saying. That's where I was mad. Yeah,
that's what I was mad at. But that's interesting twist
is how combats can get that virus and it doesn't
take them out as quickly as it does those other
smaller animals. That's an interesting twist with the rabies virus,
I think. But anyway, neither here nor there. But yeah, no,
I was mad about the whole peanut thing. Because I

(39:22):
be an animal control I know what squirrels are, not
a rabies vector, and I could not believe that they
put that animal down.

Speaker 2 (39:29):
Oh it was heartbreaking. I mean absolutely. I watched his
videos on TikTok, and I mean it was absolutely devastating,
just devastating and how they were treated. It was just
it was horrible. It was it was horrible.

Speaker 1 (39:43):
Yep, it was. It was crazy. I was I was
really upset about that one, just because I know, come on,
I know, get.

Speaker 2 (39:53):
Mad at you guys. Seriously, that was a little much.

Speaker 1 (39:58):
We're not promoting that kind of stuff. We're just saying
that we know enough about this kind of stuff to
question why this happened. Yeah, not promoting that kind of anyway. Yeah,
So sorry if anybody's upset about what we were just
talking about. I don't mean to hurt feelings, but it's
I'm I was upset because I know I know how

(40:20):
that stuff works. Believe me, I know how that stuff works.
After having a rabies epidemic in my area for a year,
I was constantly in touch with the people that dealt
with rabies.

Speaker 4 (40:31):
So anyway, getting off topic a little bit, but so
so again about domesticated skunks and stuff.

Speaker 1 (40:44):
Obviously they do make pretty good pats. What else, I mean,
we've talked quite a bit about domesticated kind of stuff,
But what else should potential owners know before they adopt one.
I mean, obviously they need to check with the correct
authority it is to see if they can even have
one where they live. But on top of that, what

(41:04):
would they be kind of looking at if they were
to adopt a pet skunk in like the care of
it and you know, just some of the basic necessities
that they'll probably need for it.

Speaker 2 (41:15):
Their diet. Their diet is really the roughest thing is
there's no food that you can just buy and throw
in a bowl and feed a skunk. I hand prepare
every single meal for the scumps. I feed on paper
plates because that's just easier. And they have to have

(41:37):
a certain amount of protein, vegetables. They love dairy products,
and they have to have tourine. They have to have calcium,
so you have to make sure all of that is
in their diet. They eat. When they're babies, they eat
every six hours, then as they get older it goes
to three times a day, and then they can eat
twice a day and those meals are prepared. It's not

(42:00):
to where you just a dog or cat puller in
a bowl and walk away. So their diet is the
roughest thing, second roughest thing. All of my skunks knock
on Wood have always used a litter box. Some skunks
won't use a litter box, and even if they do
use a litter box, they always go in a corner.

(42:23):
They will not just use the restroom in the middle
of your floor. It's in a corner. Well. One skunk
may pick out five corners in your house that it's
going to use the restromant. You may want the litter
box in your bathroom. That's laughable. It's not going to
happen and you're never gonna win. I mean you just
wherever they go to the bathroom out stick a litter

(42:45):
box there, and you may have five litter boxes around
your house or maybe only one, don't know. All skunks
have different personality. They're not like German shepherds were, you know,
they're a lot alike skunks there, and some of them
absolutely refuse. They will not use a litter box, which

(43:06):
would be horrible. So you have to think about that
if you want to go on vacation. There isn't places
unless you're a veterinary clinic or you have a really
good friend. You can't leave an automatic feeder out for
them like you put a cat or even a dog.
They don't take skunks. Rescues cannot take skunks in because

(43:31):
they have to have the proper licenses and permits to
have them on their property. And the only place would
be if you had your vet that's senior skunk, if
they did boarding and you trusted them to keep it,
or if you had a trusted friend to come over
twice a day every day and take care of it.
So that makes it difficult. Skunks come in three different personalities,

(43:54):
and this makes some of the other rescues mad at me,
but I'm very honest about it. The cats, they are
the sweetest creatures you have ever met in your entire life.
You will think at night that their halo come out
and these big wings grow. They're the best things you'll
ever find in your life. Second personality, they're only like

(44:16):
that when they feel like it. So if you're wanting
to sit down and you're feeling bad or depressed, or
you're wanting to watch a movie and you want to
hold your skunk. Maybe you can, maybe you can't. It
just depends on its mood, and you only do that
when it wants to. Third personality I call the spawns
of Satan, and you only mess with you don't mess

(44:39):
with them, period. You don't touch them. They own the house,
they live there. I guess they're making the mortgage payment
and everything. You feed them and you leave them alone.
And you have to be prepared for that when you
get these little babies, because as babies, you have no
idea what the personality is going to be. Like you

(45:01):
get your baby in June or July, and their little
personality comes out in you like October November.

Speaker 1 (45:12):
I love that. Third one, spawn of Satan.

Speaker 2 (45:14):
Oh, yeah, I've had I've had some sponns. My very
first skunk was I mean, which was good because then
I learned how to deal with it and what to
do and read by I'm an expert at body language.
I mean, he taught me everything I needed to know

(45:35):
about body language. It was a tremendous help. It wasn't
real super pleasant, but he was a true He.

Speaker 1 (45:48):
Was an incredible teacher.

Speaker 2 (45:50):
He was he was.

Speaker 1 (45:54):
Well, I'm kind of glad you went through those three
different personality because I was actually just good to kind
of ask what or so, you know, come and help
problems or behavioral issues that you might see if you
have a pet skunk, so people might be a little
more prepared.

Speaker 2 (46:09):
Their problem. Skunks don't have an off switch to their stomach,
and their stomach's only when they're full grown, about the
size of a walnut, so they don't eat tons. They
will eat until they vomit and then continue eating. So
when you're eating. They're super cute, and you know they
beg for food like cats or dogs do. They're highly intelligent.

(46:33):
They know their names. They come when they're called mine,
give kisses, mine, sleep in bed with me. They follow
you around the house. They want your food so and
they love junk food. They're junk food junkies. And people
overfeed them because they're so cute and adorable, and it

(46:53):
wouldn't hurt to give them one potato chip every now
and then, one friend fry if you went out to
dinner and brought it home every now and then. But
people feed him half a bag of French fries, give
him part of your hamburger, you know, and then before
you know it, this little skunk that should weigh seven

(47:15):
pounds weighs twenty. It can barely walk, and now it
has congestive heart failure or kidney failure, problems with its
liver because you let it get obese, and it's super
easy to do. And I understand how it happens, but
that is the number one death of domestic pet skunks.

Speaker 1 (47:36):
Is obesity happens with Chihuahwa's too.

Speaker 2 (47:43):
Yeah, And then I always feel bad because I'm so
fat that I put this poor skunk on a diet.
It's like it makes me feel and it's like, you
know what, I could use the toilet. You can't even
get in a litter box you're so fat.

Speaker 5 (47:57):
So yeah, it's like, hey, buddy, how about we have
matching treadmills. I'll get you a little skunk one and
I I can see it now, the two.

Speaker 1 (48:15):
Of you walking along. So during the time you've been rescuing,
what has been like the most common reason that skunks
end up needing to be rescued.

Speaker 2 (48:30):
The a number one reason. Last year I had over
one hundred skunks. I always end up with over one hundred.
Every single one but one litter was over chickens on
the wild side on the domestic side is people move

(48:53):
there and they're moving to a state that they're not
allowed in. I get a lot of that. I get
a lot of I just can't take care of it anymore.
This is too much for preparing its mills and it's
too much. And then what is a real shocker. One

(49:16):
of the spouses is highly jealous of the skunk. My
husband loves the skunk more than me, so it has
to go or my wife pays more attention to the
skunk than she does me. So it's me or the
skunk that happens a lot.

Speaker 1 (49:36):
I can see that's jealousy. Yeah, I can see that.
Had it happened with dogs and stuff, I literally I
think I've only had I can say, out of all
the times, I've only had a couple people actually tell
me the truth about why they were turning in their dog.

(49:58):
And the one lady was so honest, I didn't even
know what to say to her, because literally her husband
had passed away. They were his dogs. She, to put
it nicely, did not like the dogs and she didn't
want them, so they came to me.

Speaker 2 (50:18):
I've had that happen. People passed away and the person well, actually,
skunks bond with one person and they tolerate everybody else.
That's another thing about skunks, because they are solitary animals,
and sometimes they bond with a couple of people and

(50:39):
tolerate everybody else. Sometimes they'll bond to one person or
two people and they will not tolerate anybody else. So
I have had them turned into the rescue. Whereas my
wife skunk, she passed away. The skunk hates my guts
or vice versa. Yep, that that happened a few times.

(51:00):
It's moving and jealousy. I mean, I've had grown men
lay on my kitchen floor crying because that was their
dream animal. They finally got one. And and I'd asked,
you know what, pay leu's attention to it. You know,

(51:21):
don't hang out with it when your wife's around or
your husband's around. You know, kind of lay off on
the attention. But I think the damage was already done.

Speaker 1 (51:30):
Yeah, yeah, it sounds like it.

Speaker 2 (51:32):
Yeah, minds were made up. Yep.

Speaker 1 (51:34):
It's like, nope, that's it, I'm done. Yeah, yeah, that's
too bad.

Speaker 6 (51:41):
I could get a big surprise if he did that.
He would not like the choice. But you know, speaking
of honesty.

Speaker 2 (51:52):
Yeah, he would not like the outcome of that choice.

Speaker 1 (51:57):
I understand because I'd be like that with my be
like yeah, no, I don't know what to tell you.
My dogs come first. Yeah, you gotta love it. So
what happens if someone was out, you know, camping or
just whatever, just happened to have a situation where they

(52:19):
find like a wild skunk kit what you know, that's
alone or injured. I hate it sometimes when people do this.
I can understand injured, but just because you maybe see
it alone. I don't know how mama skunks are with
their kids, but I know, like apostlems, if one falls
off the back, that possibly ain't coming back for it.

(52:40):
But if someone finds something like that, what should they
do and how should they handle it?

Speaker 2 (52:48):
Well, so many people it's going to be listening to
this or like you have Rapi's really bad. It's just
not like that here. Skunk's usually babies stay with their mother.
So if you do not see a mother around, if
babies are beguinea species come up to you like they're

(53:09):
chasing you down. They need help, they're coming to you
for food, They're coming to you for help. So in
those incidences, if you do not see a mother anywhere,
and they are running towards you. They're following you. They
need help. So what I tell people to do is
get a box, put a towel in the bottom of it.

(53:30):
If you have gloves, please put gloves on. And when
you walk up to them with confidence. Okay, this is
where people get sprayed. You cannot hesitate, you cannot be afraid,
you cannot think, oh, is it gonna spray me? Because
it will walk with confidence. And I tell them to

(53:50):
pick them up by the little tippies of their tail
because they're all gonna throw their tails up in the air.
Don't grab them around the waist because they can swing
around and bite you and then they die. Pick them
up by the tippies of their tail, very gently, put
them in the box, and them to a wildlife rehabilitator
in your area that sees skunks.

Speaker 1 (54:15):
Good to know to pick them up. I never would
have thought to pick them up by the tip of
the tail. Something new instinct.

Speaker 2 (54:23):
Is either to scrub them like a mother cat you
know would, or to just scoop them up by their bellies.
But if you do that, you have a height. You
know they can swing around and bite you and then
they have to be euthanized. But they'll stick that little
tail straight up in the air. And I don't mean
grab the tail and jerk it. I mean just by

(54:44):
the very tippy with two fingers, your first finger and
your thumb, pick it up very gently and set it
in the box and quickly so you're not dangling it
in the air by its poor little tail. You know,
just very gently and quickly pick it up and set
it in the box.

Speaker 1 (55:03):
And don't swing it. It doesn't need to be swinging.

Speaker 2 (55:05):
No, very easy, one smooth, little motion, and then that
keeps the wrist down of getting of getting bent.

Speaker 1 (55:15):
Yeah, yep, good advice. So I was thinking, you know,
if you I was kind of thinking, you know, if
you have gloves and stuff, maybe you would have a bigger,
thicker towel, handy or something too you could maybe use
to keep them from you know, you're going to get
sprayed if you do that. Yeah, that's yeah's exactly all.

Speaker 2 (55:34):
Over them, or you grab them or anything, they're going
to get sprayed. Like people say, oh, babies can't spray,
Yes they can. When my husband come home to nine,
he's like, oh, so somebody sprayed and started to lapping.
Yes it did. Yeah, it's only a little six week
old baby. My whole house things right now, it doesn't
last as long, and it doesn't smell as skunky. It

(55:58):
smells more like burnt onions. And then the older they get,
the more potent and powerful and plentiful it gets.

Speaker 1 (56:07):
M Yeah that makes sense. So all right, Well that
makes good to know. If everyone counter or skunking, you
need put it in a box just by the tippy
of the tail with two fingers. Good good information to have.

Speaker 5 (56:23):
Not I'm an.

Speaker 2 (56:24):
Adult, I'm talking about little babies.

Speaker 1 (56:27):
Yeah, I don't know. I was just thinking about that one.
I'm like, you know, I've seen some I mean and
not saying I haven't seen some pretty good sized adult skunks.

Speaker 2 (56:38):
No, let's not do the tippy tail thing with adults.
But you know I'm talking about little bitty orphan babies.

Speaker 1 (56:44):
Yeah, because I did say kids.

Speaker 7 (56:47):
Yeah, please don't pick up an adult skunk by the tail.

Speaker 2 (56:51):
No good, It will swing around and get you.

Speaker 1 (56:53):
Yeah, the little.

Speaker 2 (56:54):
Babies will not.

Speaker 1 (56:57):
It's a good thing you said that. I could see
someone out there actually trying to grab an adult skunk
by the tippy of the day.

Speaker 2 (57:05):
I got sprayed in bit. Yeah, no babies, just babies.

Speaker 7 (57:10):
Just just if you see an injured adult skunk, you
may want to cause someone to help. I'm just saying, yeah,
don't try to pick up an adult skunk on your own.

Speaker 2 (57:22):
No, no, never, never. Never. Skunks Actually, domestics try to
bite me all the time, they really do, but I
wild rarely, even the adults, they rarely try to bite me.
But they do have some big teeth, so I would

(57:43):
not just go even with I don't care. I guess
if you have the big bird gloves on that come
up to your shoulders, you know, yeah, really thick leather. Yeah,
but oh, they can bite through leather gloves. They would
have to be like the big raptor gloves or something.
Then you could safely pick up wild.

Speaker 1 (58:07):
But yeah, I guess that would make sense if they're
like the raptor gloves, because obviously you've got to have
that type so the claws of the raptor don't go through.

Speaker 2 (58:17):
Yeah, yeah, because the skunk can go right through leather gloves.

Speaker 1 (58:20):
Okay, I thought they just I thought a lot of
the I guess I'm thinking more like with just like
the smaller falcons. I see a lot of just like
the heavier leather gloves with a lot of about.

Speaker 2 (58:32):
Like what people wear for eagles, you know, yeah, exactly.
They can't go through at least they haven't ever went
through any of them. But what I do for adults, well,
it depends on how sick and stuff they are, because
again skunks are extremely docile, and if they're injured and
they're not feeling very well, A lot of times I

(58:53):
can just set a box really close to it and
just take my hand and like roll it into the box,
pick the box up and go. Other times I use
a net and I get it in the net and
then put it in you know, a cage or whatever
I have and put it in that. And like as

(59:14):
far as cages, a lot of people love their live
traps and with those, if you just walk up slowly
and talk to it. Once again, they're very docile. I
cannot say that enough. Spraying is not the very first
thing they're going to do. And read their body language

(59:36):
if they poff all up in the cage. Most of
the time they're just sleeping. They don't really care to
be in there. They just go to sleep, probably a
stress you know factor. They just usually sleep walk up
very slowly. Watch their body language. I open up the
trap door, I take a brick and I stick it

(59:58):
under the trap door and just walk away. That's it,
Just walk away. That skunk may come out in five
minutes or five hours, not like raccoons or foxes to
where they just bolt out of the cage as fast
as they can. Skunks don't do that. It could take
five minutes or five hours before it wanders on out

(01:00:20):
of the live trap. So make sure you prop that
door open with something, or it's going to go forward
and then go backwards and then snap it right back
down in their face.

Speaker 1 (01:00:34):
Yeah, raccoons are interesting to release. I had a system
for it. I had like a little bungee strap. I
could hook on the little hook on the and then
I could stand behind the trap because you just never
kind of know what a raccoon they might try to
come back at you because they're they're mean, they're mean,
they are.

Speaker 2 (01:00:52):
I no longer release raccoons from traps because I did
one as a favor for an all lady and it's
like sure, I'll come get it and I'll go release it.
And I stopped buying. I get my son and we
go and to release it. My son is six foot

(01:01:14):
six and he was a he played football, so even
though he's that big, I mean he can run. I
mean he can really really run. I can't. I'm old,
fat and crippled, seriously, so I'm used to letting skunks go.
I open up that trap door that raccoon wanted me dead.

(01:01:35):
I turn around, my son is gone, gone the car,
and I'm like, are you kidding me? And he's just like, well,
I thought you would run, and it's like run, I
mean I'm physically unable to run. And then after that

(01:01:56):
it's like you know what, No, you call there's trap
or tom that I work with. You don't want them
out for you. Maybe obviously he can run better than me,
or he had kind of magic trick to it, but no,
they can be I love raccoons, Oh my gosh, they
are so cute, but when they're in a trap, they

(01:02:19):
get very angry. Well, yes they do, yeah, and skunks don't.
They just don't. Really, I can't say they don't. This
is what I'm doing now.

Speaker 1 (01:02:30):
I have had skunks stamp and hiss at me as
I'm walking out to the trap because they're in the
trap and they seem and I'm trying to you know,
and I'm walking slow, and like I said, I would
have a blanket or something in front of me to help,
you know, kind of in case they did spray. But yeah, no,

(01:02:51):
they was and that they would just stamp their little
feet and I'd be like okay, and then they'd stemp
their little feet and I'd be like, well, I'm trained,
you know, you have to pick you up and take you.
But even though they would stamp their feet and some
would kind of do a little hissy thing, I never
did get sprayed because I was going up to them

(01:03:13):
slowly and cautiously and the kind of talking, so they didn't,
you know, get too freaked out to spray me. But
man raccoons, Yeah, I had a system down for them
if I could where I would release them. I would
have like if there was a bush or something it
was kind of overhanging or or or a fence or
something I'm just saying, or a fence or something where

(01:03:35):
you could kind of put the front of that trap
where you're going to open up the door. And I
literally I had a bungee and I would hook it
onto that trap and then I would stand behind the
trap and pull the trap door open, and then usually
the skunk would shoot straight out, or not skunked, the
raccoon would shoot straight out. But yeah, I did try
to find things to kind of keep it going straight

(01:03:55):
out so it couldn't come back over that trap at
me because yeah, there mean I've known.

Speaker 2 (01:04:01):
You before I let one because I didn't know you.
I was just stupid. I thought they would be, you know,
free it run off.

Speaker 1 (01:04:11):
I'm from Michigan. They hunt them up there with their coonhounds,
and a raccoon will drown a dog, so they're me Yeah, yeah,
I had I knew a guy that had coonhounds and
he hunted raccoons, and he told us that he literally
had h it was a good size raccoon. But yeah,

(01:04:31):
the raccoon ran out onto like a log, and the
hound went out there after the raccoon, and the raccoon
was trying to drown his dog.

Speaker 2 (01:04:41):
So well, I.

Speaker 1 (01:04:43):
Mean, obviously the raccoon's.

Speaker 2 (01:04:45):
Being hunted, but trying to kill the coon.

Speaker 1 (01:04:47):
Well yeah, yeah, no, yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:04:49):
It was.

Speaker 1 (01:04:51):
It was, but I'm just saying it was just an
example of a raccoon can take a coonhound.

Speaker 2 (01:04:58):
Down like yeah, it would have no problem taking me out.
I mean, it's just I'm fair game, It's.

Speaker 1 (01:05:08):
Exactly that's why. Yeah, that's why I had that.

Speaker 2 (01:05:13):
So that's good.

Speaker 1 (01:05:14):
Well, yeah, that's that's awesome. You know, way to go, mom,
You kept your son safe. You know. The funny thing
is is my son is about the same, like six something,
six foot six one, and I could probably see him
doing the same thing your son did. And yeah, he just.

Speaker 2 (01:05:34):
Assumed, you know, I think he forgot Yeah, I mean
he's seen it, and yeah, self preservation. I mean, he
took off and thought I would be right behind him,
and that's just not how it went down. Because he
do anything in the world for me. I mean, he's
absolutely awesome. But that's just a funny story.

Speaker 1 (01:05:54):
That was a funny story. Yeah, well we're coming on
the end here. Just another question or so, what's one
piece of advice that you would like every skunk owner
or someone who would find a skunk to kind of.

Speaker 2 (01:06:11):
Know they're not terrors, they're nothing to be afraid of.
It's old wives tells that's got everybody petrified of these little, tiny,
docile creatures that all they're trying to do is live
like you and I are. All they're wanting to do

(01:06:34):
is find some food. They could care less about you.
They're not going to run up and spray you, that
is the biggest thing. They're not going to run across
the yard and spray you or attack you. They're great
to have around and I can't say it enough. They're
just little docile creatures that could care less about you

(01:06:57):
other than food. Yep, they're not as bad as what
their reputation is. I mean, they die just because they steak,
you know, and that's not really there. And they only
spray when they're threatened. They just don't go around spray

(01:07:19):
to spray. They don't even like it anyway, Like my
domestic skunks. I get sprayed not very often, every now
and then, and it's always babies that get me. If
I get sprayed and I come in the house, my
domestic skunks get mad. I mean they are mad when

(01:07:39):
they smell that spray. I don't know if they don't
like it or if they think dangers around, because I'll
have to talk to them. You know, Hey, it's me,
it's me, it's me, it's mommy. It's fucking. It's funny.
Everything's fucking because it really upsets them.

Speaker 1 (01:07:57):
I wonder if that's well. And there's domestic ones that
you have and stuff in the house. I mean, obviously
they're usually solitary animals, So then are the ones are
the ones that you have domesticated in the house. Did
they kind of group up a little bit more than
what they went out in the wild.

Speaker 2 (01:08:16):
Well for some people, And I envy those people so much.
My friend Heather, all the old crippled skunks and skunks
that are really super old or Heather has been wonderful
and she takes them for the rescue so that I

(01:08:37):
have more room because I don't believe in having tons
of skunks here. That's ridiculous. Everybody needs their their own
care and their own time with me. And and unfortunately,
all my skunks hated each other. They did not like
each other at all. Kid and Olivia would tolerate each other.

(01:08:59):
Diana hated skunks and cats. Flower did not like other skunks.
So it just depends on the skunk. Heather has seven
and they all run together, they all sleep together, they
all love each other. I wasn't fortunate in that happening.

(01:09:21):
I kept a baby this year and I'm hoping Sylvia
likes it fingers crossed that they can be best friends.
I haven't introduced them yet, but it just depends on
the personality of the skunk, on whether they like each
other or not.

Speaker 1 (01:09:38):
I was just because you were saying, you know how
they got mad when they smelled the other skunk spray.
I'm wondering if that's why, because they don't care for
other skunks as much.

Speaker 2 (01:09:47):
Maybe I just always thought maybe it was they didn't
like the smell, or since skunks only spray when there's danger,
and domestic skunks have no idea they can't spray. They
don't know there's plans have been removed, and if they
thought since they smelled it, there was danger around and

(01:10:08):
it made them hop set.

Speaker 1 (01:10:10):
Right, and that would make sense too interesting. It would
be interesting to If you ever figure it out, you'll
have to let me know.

Speaker 2 (01:10:20):
Yeah, I will, all right.

Speaker 1 (01:10:23):
So one last question, how can people help, either by
supporting you or by trying to coexist a little better
with skunks that are out there?

Speaker 2 (01:10:35):
Yeah? Coexisting if you could just leave them alone, remove
your food source, they'll move on unless you're feeding them.
And that's what any wildlife it's going to move on
to someplace out. They're going to move from food source
to food source to food source. So if you just
leave them alone, remove your food source, they'll move on on.

(01:11:02):
I'm sorry I forgot your two part question.

Speaker 1 (01:11:04):
Well, it's okay. The other part was how can people
kind of help out supporting you and your work as well?
Can you give out your contact information or website or
whatever you want to give out for if people want
to donate and stuff.

Speaker 2 (01:11:19):
Yeah, I run Indiana Skunk Rescue. My website is Indiana
Skunk Rescue dot com. There's a GoFundMe on there. I
also have Venmo to donate. Everything I do comes out
of my own pocket or donations. Wildlife rehabilitators in Indiana
do not get paid one single penny. We have to

(01:11:40):
get special permits and licenses and follow the rules and
regulations and we get inspections. That is basically a voluntary
job with DNR. They do not pay for absolutely anything,
So it all comes out of our own pockets. And
please don't look at my job and say, well, she's

(01:12:02):
raised ten thousand dollars. Okay, that's what I've raised since
twenty eighteen. I've never started a brand new fund me.
That is every penny that's been donated since through GoFundMe
since twenty eighteen.

Speaker 1 (01:12:17):
Good to know. Yeah, and it costs.

Speaker 2 (01:12:20):
Me like twenty five hundred dollars just to vaccinate every year,
because I do make sure everyone's vaccinated for Raby's distemper,
parbo lefto, all of that before they're released back into
the wild.

Speaker 1 (01:12:33):
Oh good good, And I'll go ahead and put a
link up to your rescue on my Facebook page for
the podcast also, so if people want to go for
mine two years, they can very easily. So well, Julie,
I really appreciate you coming on Tony and giving us
all this really great info about skunk so both wild

(01:12:56):
and domestic. Like I said, I have learned several new
things tonight, and hopefully the audience that listens in learned
some new things about skunk's also so and learn to
coexist with them just a little bit better, because, like
Julie said, they're not going to run up and attack you.
And seriously, I'll be honest with you, guys, if a
skunk was to run up and attack you, you definitely

(01:13:19):
need to call because that means there's something wrong with
that skunk. Because yeah, they don't do that.

Speaker 2 (01:13:26):
No, they don't do that. No. If you live in
a rabid state, then yeah, go get shots, dude, because
there's something horribly, horribly horribly wrong if that happen. Yeah,
with any wildlife. Yeah, except I guess when you're letting
raccoons out of traps. But if you're just walking, you know, yeah,

(01:13:46):
they don't just run up and attack you. And also
one last thing, if anybody has any questions and it's like, oh, well,
she didn't cover that, and I've always wanted to know,
feel free call me my phone numbers on my websit.
That's what I'm here for. Shoot me a text message,
send me an email. I'm more than happy to answer

(01:14:07):
your questions about skum. Want everybody to feel comfortable with them.
And if you don't love them like I do, at
least tolerate them, right.

Speaker 1 (01:14:17):
And I know we excuse me. I want to throw
just one last little thing out there too, I know
we You know mentioned throughout the podcast tonight about rabies
vector animals, and in case you don't know what that means,
it just means that that animal is a little bit
more susceptible to having the brabies virus. And passing it

(01:14:37):
on to other animals through their saliva, biting, or even
if they were to lick their paw and then scratch you,
it can be transmitted as well off of their paw
if you have open wound, or if they scratch you
and make an open wound. But there's two different types.
Just so you guys, do you know about this. There's
two different types of rabies out there that animal can get.

(01:14:59):
It's the the dumb rabies, and it is the one
where they attack dumb rabies if you see not only
a skunk, raccoons will do it a fox. They kind
of snagger around like they don't know what they're doing.
They might walk around in circles, they might fall over
on their sides. They looks like they've lost their senses.

(01:15:22):
You also don't see animals with rabies eat a lot
because it affects that eating and drinking and stuff like
that as well. And then you have the aggressive rabies,
which literally if they have that, they can run up
and just literally attack you out of nowhere with no warning.
So and I don't want to get morbid, but if

(01:15:42):
you do happen to have a firearm on you and
you have to shoot that animal. Do not shoot it
in the head because that's what the lab needs to
test is the brain to make for the rabies. And
you want that test done because and stuff, because you've
got to know what or not. You know you're going
to have to get those shots. But more than likely,

(01:16:03):
if it runs up and attacks you, it's probably got rabies,
and you're if it, if it does bite you or something,
you will probably have to get those shots.

Speaker 2 (01:16:10):
So and also with rabies, make sure all your listeners
know that with dumb rabies, distemper mimics rabies to its
t okay, their symptoms are exactly alike. So nine times
out of ten, well almost one hundred percent of the
time in Indiana, that it is distemper. It is not rabies,

(01:16:33):
it is distemper. They mimic each other to a t.
So you can't see a skunk or a raccoon or
a fox or something stumbling around and think are going
in circles. Oh, it has rabies. It could very well
could have distemper. You don't know until you get it tested.

Speaker 1 (01:16:55):
Yep, we see a lot of distemper in the coyotes
and stuff out here, and yes they do it does
mimic rabies in that sense, they do stumble around and
act the same way. But yeah, you would have to
literally get it tested. And that's why I'm saying if
you do have to, you know, whatever reason to shoot
that animal, do not shoot it. Yeah, because you got

(01:17:16):
to have it tested. So so make sure and if
if someone can't get there right away to collect that animal,
like animal control or that or whoever, you need to
get that animal on ice, whether you put it in
an ice chest on ice, or maybe you have an
outdoor freezer you don't use for anything, maybe you know whatever,
but you need to keep it cool so that the

(01:17:38):
specimen sample will stay viable for them to be able
to test.

Speaker 2 (01:17:42):
And now they told me to put it in the refrigerator,
not the freezer.

Speaker 1 (01:17:47):
If you put it if refrigerators, refrigerator is better because
so with us, because we only our stuff had to
go three hours away and so we couldn't just it
up to the lab. We had the like FedEx ship
it and stuff, so it did have to be frozen.
And then usually by the time it got there, uh,

(01:18:08):
it had thought out and we packed it with dry
ice too to keep it. So yeah, it's.

Speaker 2 (01:18:15):
Very important that people know. Just temper mimics rabies, rabies
mimics distemper.

Speaker 1 (01:18:19):
Yeah, yep, yes, OK.

Speaker 2 (01:18:22):
People call and they're like, oh, the skunk is rabbit,
the skunk is rabid, and it's just temper. Or people
think that every skunk in the world carries rabies. I
don't know where that came from. That is not true.
Every skunk in the world does not carry its own
special kind of rabies. That's true.

Speaker 1 (01:18:43):
In fact, you'll find out that a lot of times
it's cross variants between you. You'll have like a variant of
fox rabies that you'll find in bats or skunks, or
you might find raccoon variant and you know, skunks or bats.
It just kind of depends. It just depends. There are
different variants.

Speaker 2 (01:19:00):
Yes, yeah, because any mammal can get it. It's basically
mammal rabies no matter what variant it is, and mammal
including us can get it.

Speaker 1 (01:19:10):
Yeah, and we as mammals really don't want to get
it because thereas as of yet no cure for rabies.
It will kill you eventually. They have had success with
I think it's two or three people where they had
to induce them into Komas for quite a period of time,
and then once they did come back out of the coma,

(01:19:32):
they beat the rabies, but they literally had a lot
of issues brain wise and stuff. They had to relearn
how to do a lot of stuff over again and
things like that.

Speaker 2 (01:19:43):
So scary, I mean, it is very scary. I mean,
that's my biggest fear because you see somebody that runs
the biggest skunk resky in the United States dies of rabies.
What that would do to skunks. Oh, that is like
my biggest fear is like, oh, please, God, don't do that,
you know.

Speaker 1 (01:20:01):
Yeah. Yeah. So So anyway, just a little bit more
information out there for you guys. I'm kind of the
rabiest thing, just so you're aware of what to kind
of be on the lookout for and what you kind
of need to do if you do encounter something like that.
But for the most part, if that skunk's not acting
abnormally and you know, just acting normally, it's it's fine,

(01:20:23):
just leave it alone and it'll go away. Yeah, all right, Julie, Well,
I'm gonna let you We're going to end the podcast
pretty much. I'm just gonna go ahead and announce my
next couple of guests I have coming up. But I
really appreciate you being on tonight, and I know you know,
being back in Indiana, you're a bit ahead of us

(01:20:43):
in time, so you're perfectly welcome to jump off and
go do whatever you need to do for your night.
And uh, I again appreciate you giving us all the
information you gave us on skunks and domestic and wild
so now people have more information.

Speaker 2 (01:20:59):
Perfect Thank you so much for having me. I really
appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (01:21:03):
Well, you're very welcome. And yeah, if you figure that
one thing out, let me know I will. All right,
all right, Well you have a good one, Julie, you too,
all right by now all right, everybody's Julie just jumped
off there and I'm going to go ahead. There's a

(01:21:25):
couple of things I actually, I know I'm a little
bit over on time, but there's actually a couple of
things I kind of would like to talk about before
I do jump off for the evening. And I'm sorry
I'm keeping you guys a little later. First off, it's
been all over in the news and on Facebook, and

(01:21:50):
many of you that are in the rescue world have
probably heard about what happened with Michayla Reins Save a
Fox Rescues founder. It's horrible that that happened. I cannot
express how sad it is that people felt the need

(01:22:16):
to bully her to the extent that she just finally
and as her husband put out in the video, she
did have some mental issues and stuff like that she
was dealing with, and she had autism, a touch of
autism and stuff, and it's really sad that people out
in the world bullied her to the point that she

(01:22:39):
decided to hand to her own life. People, you've got
to be better than that, especially if you people are
in the rescue world. How could you do that? You
care about animals, but you don't care about other humans.
How does that work? On top of which, why if

(01:23:01):
you didn't like what she was doing or what was
going on, fine, that's fine. You do not need to
express your opinion about everything everybody. I don't understand what
is going on in this world nowadays, between the politics
and the rescues and everything else. It's horrible. People are
being horrible to each other. Everybody is bad mouthing each other.

(01:23:23):
You're turning on each other friends or dissolving friendships over
politics and whatever. Side you on, Republican or Democrat or
whatever it is. Who cares.

Speaker 2 (01:23:35):
Who cares?

Speaker 1 (01:23:37):
That is not important. What's important is that we all
tried to be decent to each other, that we tried
to correct the wrongs that are going on, and that
we try to fix things and work together to fix
these things instead of being separate. You know, what's going
on right now and the divisiveness that we have here
in the United States kind of reminds me back to

(01:23:58):
when the Civil War was going on, when brothers turned
on brothers and fathers turned on sons, and families turned
on each other over the slavery issues and stuff that
we had going on. This is so much of a
reminder of how of all that it's we're doing it again.
We're turning on each other. We're letting politicians divide us.

(01:24:20):
It's ridiculous. There's no reason for this. We should all
work together and we should not be bullying each other,
especially you people here in the rescue world. Quit it.
Like I said, if you don't like someone something that
another rescue is doing, fine unless you have information or
proof that whatever they're doing is illegal or something like that,

(01:24:43):
or they're abusing animals. You know someone along those lines,
then call and get the authorities and stuff involved with it.
Quit being armchair keyboard warriors and getting behind your screen
and seeing a bunch of crap and being mean if
you want to do that, and why don't you do
it face to face or do you not have enough
bravery to do that? Other than not, just quit start

(01:25:06):
up doing these things and start thinking about other people.
You don't know what's going on with other people, just
like what happened with Mikhayla. Did anybody really have an
inkling besides her really close friends and stuff like that
and her family maybe about what was going on with her,
because I understand she kind of kept a lot of
that hidden and put a pretty good face on things

(01:25:27):
and tried to help other people with their autism and
stuff like that as well. So seriously, guys, we've got
to do better. Anyway, I just it was just horrible
to hear about that, and I just wanted to talk
about it, And I'm sorry if I kind of got
on a soapbox and was scolding.

Speaker 2 (01:25:47):
But.

Speaker 1 (01:25:48):
Guys, we've got to do better. We're supposed to be
on the top of the food chain, and we're supposed
to be the smart ones. We're not acting very smart
at all when it comes to any of this. Okay,
So I'm gonna get off of that topic. And my
condolences go out to Michaela's family, her husband, her little

(01:26:09):
daughter she left behind. Very sad to have heard about it.
I guess I should explain I did not know Mikayla personally,
but I did have. One of her volunteers from Save
a Fox had been on the podcast a few years
ago and we talked about Save a Fox and all

(01:26:29):
the great work that they were doing, saving the foxes
on the fur farms and stuff like that, and why
they were, you know, helping those foxes out. So if
you guys, can you know, donate and helped keep continuing
Mikayla's mission with her husband Ethan and her daughter Freya,
that would be awesome. So all right, enough with that,
and now, of course, guys, we've got July fourth coming

(01:26:53):
up for you guys that are here in the States
listening in. We know this is this is gonna go on.
It happens year. There's going to be fireworks going on.
Take your dogs, make sure they're inside, don't leave them
out in the yard while you go to the fireworks display,
put them inside. If you have to put them in,

(01:27:13):
you know something to create if you to put them
in a kennel, something to try to keep them safe.
What you need to do, turn that music on, turn
that TV in, turn it out to try to help
drown out the firework noise. You know things to help
with that. You get some medication from your vet if
you need to to help take the anxiety and the
edge off when those things are going up. We know

(01:27:34):
what happens every year. Make sure your dog has a
microchip or has a collar and a tag on. And
for God's sake, people, if your dog does get out
on July fourth and ends up an animal controller and
the animal shelter, go get your dog. They don't want
your dog. They more more times give them back for
free because they are so overcrowded right now. They can't

(01:27:58):
handle all the animals that they have. So please, please
please go get your dog. If it gets out, you're
probably gonna get it back for free. No one is
gonna yell at you about it. Well, they might say,
you know, maybe you should think about helping your dog
and keep you know, to keep it in so it
doesn't get freaked out, but will probably be about it.
So please make sure your dog's got ID and if

(01:28:21):
your dog gets out, make sure you check the local shelters.
Check around with your neighbors because they might be holding
onto your dog because the shelters are overfull. But get
your dog and take it home. Can't stress us enough.
It happens every year here in the United States. Guys,
we have fireworks. It's never gonna stop. We celebrate our independence.

(01:28:44):
I know so many people want it to stop, but
it is probably never gonna stop. Maybe maybe well a
hundred years, who knows, But come on, it's been going
on now for how long. Let's be smart about this
and burd dogs safe and if they get out, go
get them and quit leaving them at the shelter. The

(01:29:06):
shelters can't handle it. They're over full. They are euthanizing
for space because they don't have room. So please, please
please do the right thing, keep them safe, and go
pick them up if they get out. Okay, and I
hope you all have a happy Fourth of July. I

(01:29:27):
hope you celebrate, but stay safe. Please do not drink
and drive. Horrible accidents happening. You know when that kind
of stuff happens, So please make sure you stay safe
if you go out and celebrate, great, but either stay
where you're at or you know, celebrate at home, whatever
you need to do. Just don't be drinking and driving
out there, guys. Okay, with all of that being said,

(01:29:51):
my next couple podcasts coming up July tenth. I am
going to be talking with Kim Langling and she has, uh,
excuse me, a couple of books out there.

Speaker 2 (01:30:06):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (01:30:07):
I am just kind of calling them to Paul Prince
Books because that's what's in the title. It's a oh
my gosh, I'm sorry, guys, I forgot to grab her books.
I actually had the title real handy. Here, hold on
a second, and I can tell you what the name
of it is. Uh, let's see. I think one of

(01:30:41):
them was Paul Prince in the Kitchen.

Speaker 2 (01:30:46):
And oh yeah, the oh here we go.

Speaker 1 (01:30:54):
Sorry about that, guys, I should have had that ready
before I started doing this. I apologize. Paul Prince on
the Couch and then the other one is Paul Prince
on the Kitchen.

Speaker 2 (01:31:04):
Four.

Speaker 1 (01:31:05):
That's why I was calling them to Paul Prince Books. Anyway,
I have read Paul Prince on the couch. It was
really good. I do intend to probably get Paul Prince
on the kitchen floor and I'm going to read that too,
because I did enjoy the first one. Kim has taken
stories from different pet owners and she's compiled them all

(01:31:26):
into this book and she's telling their stories about their pets.
And so we're going to be talking with her on
July tenth about her books and get some more insight
into them and how she got into writing these books
about the pets and stuff and what got her going
with that. So hopefully you guys can all tune in
on July tenth and listening on that one. And then

(01:31:49):
on July twenty fourth, I'm gonna have Alison Brokaw on
with me, and she's also an author and scientists and stuff.
She's actually written a book Fascinating Facts about bats, and
so we are going to be talking with Alison about
all sorts of different bat things. So I'm actually just

(01:32:13):
about halfway I think through her book right now. And
it's a beautiful book.

Speaker 3 (01:32:18):
Guys.

Speaker 1 (01:32:18):
If you guys are interested in bats, I would recommend
getting it. It's got some beautiful, colorful pictures in there
of bats and different bats and different. You know, each
chapter is about something different, and it's very well written,
and it's very informative, and it has a lot of good,
great information in there. So yeah, if you guys are

(01:32:40):
interested in Bats, I would highly recommend getting her book
and taking a look at it and reading it. I'm
enjoying it. And that's what my next couple of podcasts
coming up are, so hopefully, like I said, you guys
can come home back and listen to those and we'll
get some more information at bought these books and these authors. Well,

(01:33:02):
thanksgott guys for sticking around a little extra time tonight
and listening in on our podcast for the Skunks and
about me getting in my little soapbox about bullying and
stuff like that. But that just kind of, you know,
was upsetting and hit home. And the fourth of July,
all right, everybody, I'm out of here. You guys all

(01:33:23):
have fun, have good weekend this weekend, and stay safe
and again make sure you stay safe on the fourth
of July. All right, bye now,

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