Skunk population on the rise in suburbs
If you're smelling more skunks, get used to it.
Experts say the black-and-white-striped critters are making a comeback after the population plummeted in the late 1990s due to a rabies outbreak.
While still not half as numerous in the state as they were about 25 years ago, skunks numbers have been creeping up, experts said.
So what do the little troublemakers mean to the suburbs?
"Three animals make you pay attention - the coyote, the beaver and the skunk," said wildlife control expert, Rob Erickson, who runs On Target Animal Control, which serves the area. "The coyotes kill pets, beavers put you under water and Mr. Skunk - he'll stink your house up."
Besides the nasty smell, skunks are carriers of rabies and distemper, so pets could get infected. Golf course owners will find more holes in their greens after skunks move in as they like to burrow into grassy areas, he said.
Erickson, the author of the book "Innovative Skunk Control," said he's trapped almost 400 skunks locally in the last year, almost three times as many as five years ago.
Skunk roadkill is up about 17 percent between February 2006 and January 2007 from the year before, according to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
But don't expect to be overrun by skunks, said Bob Bluett, an IDNR wildlife biologist. Diseases act as a natural skunk eliminator, continuing a cycle of population highs and lows.
"Burrowing around homes is a problem, the smell is a problem, diseases are a problem," Bluett said. "They are neat little animals - don't get me wrong - but when (skunk populations) get out of balance, you tend to see these things."
The scoop on skunks
• Skunks are abundant in some urban areas, preferring travel ways and denning sites located along railroads or high-tension power lines.
• Skunk musk has been detected at distances of up to 20 miles. It's painful to the eyes but does not cause permanent blindness.
• Skunks have poor senses of sight, hearing and smell.
• When cornered or pursued, they usually face the intruder, arch their backs, raise their tails and stamp the ground with their front feet. If a skunk's warning is ignored, it turns around with its tail raised so that it's in a good position to discharge musk from two glands located at the base of the tail.
• Insects are their preferred food in spring and summer. Skunks also eat mice, young rabbits, ground squirrels, voles, birds and bird eggs. Plant foods include corn.
• A striped skunk is about the size of a domestic cat, but it has shorter legs.
• Males vary in weight from 3 to about 12 pounds. Females tend to be smaller, usually about 3 to 9 pounds.
• Skunks prefer forest borders, brushy areas and grassy fields broken by wooded ravines and rock formations.
• Breeding begins in February and lasts through March. A litter of four to 10 is born from early May to early June.
• While dogs, coyotes, badgers and great-horned owls kill a few, diseases, vehicles and farm machinery more commonly cause skunk deaths.
Source: Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Roadkill tally
Roadkill numbers suggest that skunks in Illinois are on the rise after dropping in the late 1990s due to a rabies outbreak.
• Roadkill peaked in 1980 at 4.8 skunks per 1,000 miles, more than double the average in prior years.
• In 1999, kills fell to 0.91 skunks per 1,000 miles.
• In 2006, kills were 1.8 skunks per 1,000 miles, indicating a rebound
Source: Illinois Department of Natural Resources
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