Skunks in the wild?

[wildliferescuer]

Does anyone know of any reports of skunks living in the wild in the UK, & if so, whereabouts? Or any sightings of stray ones?

[Tursiops2]

There's no mention of Skunks on here: European Exotics - Non native species in Europe and further afield
Plenty of other undesirables though

[wildliferescuer]

The reason I ask is that we have had a 'stray' youngster brought to us & the word around the area she was found is that there have been sightings of both adults & young in the wild.

[volence]

i would think it is more likely to be an escaped or abandoned pet. They are popular but due to animal cruelty laws preventing skunks from being descented i think a few idiots would rather abandon a pet skunk rather than re home or live with it. After all, they only spray when threatened. I myself would love one as a pet

[Ann2]

It might be worth checking reptileforums.co.uk as I think there was a recent thread on a skunk sighting.

[nickhulse]

Originally Posted by wildliferescuer

Does anyone know of any reports of skunks living in the wild in the UK, & if so, whereabouts? Or any sightings of stray ones?

hi yes on my way to work this morning at 5.30 am.driving out of coleford in the forest of dean on what i call the chepstow road,40 metres in front of me a pair were crossing the road.i stopped but they went in to a field and were gone.in the forest review a woman said she had one in her garden in coleford.

[wildliferescuer]

Originally Posted by nickhulse

hi yes on my way to work this morning at 5.30 am.driving out of coleford in the forest of dean on what i call the chepstow road,40 metres in front of me a pair were crossing the road.i stopped but they went in to a field and were gone.in the forest review a woman said she had one in her garden in coleford.

Hi
The one that we have in was found in Coleford & we have heard reports of others being seen there. This one is only a few months old so may possibly have been born in the wild.

[The Woodman]

The content of one of my of posts back in October 2008....

Just picked up a copy of the local paper "The Westmorland Gazette" and on the front page- a nice little story about Dent. A local vet was called to deal with a skunk found in a goose shed!

"The incident occurred on Tuesday after Mr Preston was called to Gary Dodd’s smallholding in Dent.

“I went into the goose shed to let the geese out and saw this creature asleep in the corner,” said Mr Dodd. “There was also a smell, a bit like a gas leak, and I knew straight away what it was so I called the vet to see if he could take it away.”

The skunk, believed to be a male, reacted with its defence glands after Mr Preston tried unsuccessfully to put it into a cat box. Mr Dodd said it was finally captured by an RSPCA officer but not before he, too, was treated to a liberal dose of skunk spray.

The animal is now being cared for at the Knoxwood Wildlife Rescue Trust at Thornby Moor, near Wigton, where it has been given the name Ducky and introduced to Nancy, a female skunk which was found wondering outside a gay nightclub in Blackpool in September 2007."

Where do they come from?

[valleyforge]

Originally Posted by wildliferescuer

The reason I ask is that we have had a 'stray' youngster brought to us & the word around the area she was found is that there have been sightings of both adults & young in the wild.

Hi Caroline,

Hope you've got a good supply of tomato juice in, just in case your "li'l stinky" gets overexcited?

[Dogghound]

Just as a matter of interest what species of skunk are we on about here? are all these sightings the same species?