No matter what an animal might smell like, the fine folks at CROW in Sanibel, will do whatever it takes to save them. And after researching this story we now know how to make skunk sounds.
Two newborn striped skunk siblings were admitted after being found outside of their burrow in Cape Coral. They were brought to CROW after the person that found the tiny critters couldn’t find their mom. Upon examination, the skunks were dehydrated and thin.
“They were found right outside a burrow, which was likely theirs but they were too small to move themselves out of the burrow,” Frankel said. “The finder spent quite a while playing baby skunk sounds and trying to locate mom but was unsuccessful. With no evidence of mom coming back and with the infants being dehydrated and thin, it became obvious they had been without care for a period of time.”
Not knowing how to make skunk sounds, we looked it up and found a video posted to YouTube. So if you’re ever at a party and you want to impress your friends with some skunky sounds, check this out HERE.
“The skunks are currently a little over 2 weeks old and are growing very quickly,” said CROW Rehabilitation Manager Breanna Frankel. “With them being so young, they can’t regulate their body temperature yet, so they are living in a temperature-regulated incubator. We are currently providing them milk formula six times a day, and they require stimulation as they can’t go to the bathroom on their own. We are monitoring their hydration and health status daily and providing any additional care that may arise.”
The two baby skunks will remain in CROW’s care until they are old enough to be released. That process may take time to assure that the patients are ready to go it alone in the wild.
“These skunks will likely wean off milk by 7 to 8 weeks old and move to an outdoor enclosure soon after that,” said Frankel.
At this point, they will be fully eating on their own, but it will take several months after that for them to learn adequate survival skills before they can be released.”
Until then, the youthful skunks may be undergoing various diet changes under a watchful eye.
“They have a specific milk formula that provides necessary nutrients as they grow. Their eyes are still currently closed and they will continue on milk only until their eyes open,” said Frankel. “Once their eyes open, we will start to offer a slurry diet of milk formula and soaked chow to help acclimate them to eating on their own.”
You can also watch these two skunks grow on the CROW website HERE.
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