If you find a nest of baby skunks it can be easy to assume they are motherless, but this isn’t always the case. The mother is most likely out looking for food for the kits. This is most certainly the case at night as they are nocturnal and often search for food during the night. If you find babies keep an eye on the nest and see if the mother is returning to the nest or now. Sometimes the mother can suffer at the hand of predators or roadkill. The mother can also become caught in a trap with the owner not knowing she has a kit somewhere.



If you haven’t seen the mother return you can still help the skunks to survive by contacting your local wildlife center who will come and take the babies. It is illegal for anyone who is not authorized to keep the baby kits unless they have a permit from the proper authority. Wildlife rescuers are trained in this field and know how to raise vulnerable animals. As soon as you see the nest and find the mother has not returned you need to contact the rescue as soon as possible. If the babies are left alone for too long they can starve or suffer from predators.

While they may seem cute and harmless do not raise the baby skunks yourself. These animals are wild and should be handled by experienced people. Many people have tried to keep baby skunks as pets and ended up simply killing them because they failed to provide the correct care they needed.

While you wait for the rescue team to come pick them up the best thing you can do for them is to provide more warmth in the nest. A small cereal or laundry box can provide warmth. Do not feed the skunks. People tend to think kitten or puppy food is ok, but it is not and is very inappropriate for skunks.

Malnourished skunks will die from bone problems or even diarrhea. Dealing with kits is something you should do promptly and not allow them to thrive around your property as this can encourage more to come and then you will end up being overrun. Skunks can quickly become a problem as they are quite talented when it comes to searching for food. If you find skunks it is important to catch and remove before they breed, and you end up with plenty more living around your home.

If you catch a skunk have a good look around your home and be sure to check that there are no babies in a nest hiding somewhere. Once you have done that be sure to put preventative measure in place to make sure your home will prevent skunks from residing there. This can be certain smells, bright lights and mesh that can stop them from entering vacant spaces

If you prevent your home from being enticing for skunks you will avoid the stress of dealing with abandoned babies.

Visit our Memphis wildlife control home page to learn more about us.