Cat nursing skunks

[snopes]

[JoeBentley]

Cuteoverload posted a series of very similar pictures a few weeks back.

[inkrose115]

That is so cute! I love the little stiny-poos too. Maybe they'll grow up tame, I hear they make pretty good pets even if they're not descented. Growing up with cats'll make 'em less prone to freaking out and squirting people.

[Victoria J]

A picture of the same cat and skunks appeared in The Fortean Times February edition. She is identified as Misty, a farm cat, who was introduced to baby skunks at a private zoo in Three Hills, Alberta, when the mother skunk abandoned them.

They reference an article in the Calgary Herald dating from 13th June 2006.

Looking at their website it seems to be an odd mixture of a zoo and a cat and dog shelter. It doesn't seem to have anything about Misty and the skunks on the site.

The picture stuck in my mind because she looks just like a cat we used to have.

Victoria J

[Aimee Evilpixie]

Good lord, that is so adorable. I really want a pet skunk, because they're so cute and I hear they do make excellent domesticated pets, but it's illegal in Washington.

Maybe someday I'll register myself as an animal rescue operation and then I'll be able to have one. Yay, little skunkies!

[inkrose115]

Originally Posted by Aimee Evilpixie

Good lord, that is so adorable. I really want a pet skunk, because they're so cute and I hear they do make excellent domesticated pets, but it's illegal in Washington.

Maybe someday I'll register myself as an animal rescue operation and then I'll be able to have one. Yay, little skunkies!

Oooh, me too! Someday... I'd really like to be able to rescue the cute little skunkettes, don't think I'd be able to send them out into the big dnagerous word without a lunch and their favorite teddy bear though.

[brendaal]

You guys can have the one in my backyard. I can't let my dogs outside after dark bc I never know when "the skunk" going to be in my backyard. I live in the city, I have a fenced yard (some of it with wire fencing kind of like chicken wire but sturdier, which is how I think it gets in), I never leave food outside (other than the apple trees and the blackberry bushes), and I can't get rid of it bc I can't trap it to relocate it. I've taken to opening my backdoor to and shouting "GET OUT OF MY YARD SKUNK, THE DOGS ARE COMING OUT" so they won't get sprayed again. Hopefully this year I can replace some of the wire fencing, but it takes so long bc I have to tear the blackberry bushes down first.
*sigh*
And I really like wildlife. My one dog has been sprayed 6 times in 3 years. Always at 11:30 or later. So I than half to make a trip to the grocery store bc I'm inevitably out of H2O2 or baking soda so she can get a nice stinky bath in the bathroom.

[Aimee Evilpixie]

Sounds like your dogs are kinda slow learners. I would think getting sprayed one time would be enough!

[brendaal]

Yah, the one knows enough to back away but the second one has an extremely high prey drive. Anything that moves she's after (and when I say anything, I mean cats, dogs, birds, squirrels, bugs, shadows, ups truck *sigh*). It's the only behavior I haven't been able to modify since adopting her at 10 months of age (she was on a chain for the first 8 months of her life). When we are out hiking, she stops and comes back to me when I call her, but in the backyard it's a lost cause. She just glazes over and all she sees is "my yard! must protect my yard!" She's been stung by countless bees too, always in the mouth.
You'd think the skunk would stop coming into the yard though too...

[Brad from Georgia]

Time to get my glasses checked. I thought when I first glanced at the title this thread was about a cat nursing sharks.

Brad "mee-YOWTCH!" from Georgia

[kjbrasda]

Those wanting to adopt pet skunks, make sure you check local laws first. I think some states restrict domesticating certain wild animals.

[Aimee Evilpixie]

Originally Posted by kjbrasda

Those wanting to adopt pet skunks, make sure you check local laws first. I think some states restrict domesticating certain wild animals.

Yup. Illegal in my state, hence my desire to run a tiny animal sanctuary so I can legally own one.

I'm a sneaky bugger.

[kjbrasda]

hee, that'll teach me to read posts better :P

[Forgotten Fay]

Oh my gosh! That's sooo adorable! I have heard, and even seen a show on Discovery, or Animal Planet, on how great skunks are as pets. Most skunks get descented though. Sooo cute!

[Sis]

Aw, they're so cute when they're little. Skunks, that is.

Can't stand 'em when they get bigger though. Maybe that's because I've had to get the smell out of so many dogs. Our old great dane, Duke (I miss him ), had a thing about skunks. He got skunked once when he was young and after that he hated them. Went after them every chance he got.

Originally Posted by kjbrasda

Those wanting to adopt pet skunks, make sure you check local laws first. I think some states restrict domesticating certain wild animals.

Actually, it is illegal to domesticate wild skunks everywhere.

There are breeders of domestic skunks who sell in states where it isn't illegal. And unlike wild skunks, they come in many colors, not just black and white.

There are many resources online, but you can start at http://www.skunksaspets.com/ (or check out this Wikipedia article - with the usual caveats on relying on Wikipedia alone).

Tips for keeping skunks out of your yard - look into getting dried fox urine.

And for getting the smell out of your house (I am expert because my house gets sprayed several times each winter), boil white vinegar in the affected areas.

TGIF