Pew: Late summer is skunk season in Montana

Yes, there are more skunks killed on roads in late summer than any other time of year. It’s not your imagination.

“Skunks are mesocarnivores which means that their diet consists of around 60% meat and the rest of it is made up of insects, fruits, fungi, plants, etc.,” explained Ryan Klimstra, Missoula Area Biologist for FWP. “We have both the western spotted skunk which is very rare here and striped skunk which is the most seen and twice the size of the spotted skunk.  In general, mesocarnivores have a strategy for feeding and it involves following edges such as a fence row, hedge row, or ditch where insects, bird nests, small rodents and vegetation are abundant.” 

Wikipedia reports that skunks live about three years and that they are not aggressive toward humans but are major carriers of rabies so if antagonistic, extra precaution and immediate reporting is an absolute must. 

Skunks do give warnings before spraying in self-defense by turning their back end to the target, hissing and stomping their feet. The elusive spotted skunk actually performs a break-dance-like ritual before discharging their two anal glands of the oily liquid. They spray sparingly as they sometimes need over a week to reload the glands. But do know that five to eight spays are available on a full tank.  

Kilmstra continues, “Skunks are very adaptable to many types of habitats and generally have around five or six young in May or June. As summer goes on, and kits turn into juveniles and adults, they began to disperse from their family groups in search of their own territories. This dispersal and their feeding habits are generally why we see so many roadkill skunks especially this time of year.”