Baby Skunk Season in Southern California

It's April 24th, from your city to your ears.

This is California News Today, powered by AI.

If you've been catching that funky skunk smell around your southern California spot

lately, it's baby skunk season kicking off right now.

These little ones, called kits, drop around late April after moms carry four to six for

a couple months.

Born blind, deaf and hairless, they're helpless at first, and can't even blast that signature

spray until week three or four.

Those are mostly chill nocturnal foragers, munching bugs, fruit, eggs, grass, and whatever

trash they snag at dusk.

Striped ones roam up to a square mile for females, four for males, crashing in dens under

homes, bushes, or rocks.

They're not out to get you live, and let live, unless you mess with them.

Moms get extra feisty while lactating to keep up nook for the kits, forging more at night

and quick to stomp or hiss if bothered.

These pick up those defensive moves in the den too.

By May and June, around two months old, the whole family starts exploring, so expect

to bigger skunk crews wandering neighborhoods.

That means keep an eye out for mom and her pack, especially with pets around.

They're not hunting trouble, but back off if they warn you.

If spray hits anyway, skip tomato bass, water makes it worse, mix a quart of hydrogen peroxide,

quarter cup baking soda, and a teaspoon of dish soap for a solid wash repeat for furry

friends.

Come late summer, kits head out solo as adults, but till then, give these families space

to keep the peace in your backyard.