Just like any other animal spraying is a method of defense mechanism. To defend themselves the skunk will spray to the threat. Skunks do not just spray as the main method of their defense but will only spay as the last option to defend themselves
How do skunks spray?
Two glands located on each side of the anus which stores the skunk's spray. The skunk's spray has a bad odor and it is oily.
Signs skunks give before spraying.
The fact that a skunk will always give some sings before it acts makes it a unique animal and it can easily be predicted before it attracts or before it sprays the liquid to anything that is causing a threat to it. Other animals do not do this they only attack when they notice they are being threatened. Some of the signs that a skunk will give to warn before the attack are:
- Rising the tail and shake it warningly
- Stump their feet and turn their heads towards the attacker in u shape
Reasons why skunks give warnings before spraying.
Spraying is the last thing a skunk will do to defend itself. To prevent this they must give the sign that they want to attack just to scare the predator away. They give these signs because.
- Spraying leaves skunks defenseless once a skunk has depleted the fluid from the glands it makes them defenseless for quite some time
- Once the skunk has depleted the fluids they remain helpless and hence anything can harm it
- Skunks take a while to refill their glands again
- During the refill period, the skunks remain very vulnerable
- Their fore skunks will give a series of moves towards the attacker just to avoid using spraying as a method of self-defense
Which type of skunks spay a lot
Most males skunks tend to spray a lot because male skunks fight a lot for:
- Mates
- Dominance
Conclusion
Unlike most animals that just stage an attack to fight their attackers, skunks give warning before spraying this makes them unique and it is easy to prevent them from attacking you.
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