Pew: Late summer is skunk season in Montana
A skunk is seen in this stock image. (Pixabay photo)
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.
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