Skunks and opossums are both nocturnal so of course they encounter each other on their nightly rambles. What do they think of each other? Do possums avoid skunks?
An encounter captured on a trail cam, tweeted by Russ McSpadden, indicates that a possum will whack a skunk if he thinks he can get away with it.
This opossum shoving a skunk into a pond …
— Russ McSpadden (@PeccaryNotPig) December 17, 2020
?? Betsy Potter pic.twitter.com/VUzRlgAVIg
Take that, you pesky skunk!
Oh my!
(photos from Wikimedia Commons; click on the caption links to see the originals. Russ McSpadden tweet @PeccaryNotPig embedded showing Betsy Potter’s video)
Haha!! How rude!!
Oh my god! That’s insane. I hope we get to see the skunk’s revenge.
Kate, I watched that video multiple times, and it looks as though that skunk’s tail is partially “bald”, near the tip. Is that common/normal?
Craig, I couldn’t see that in the video. I don’t know.
Poor skunk! Just going about his business getting a drink of water, and the bully possum comes by and pushes him in, and continues on his way. That was really wild. I would never have imagined one animal doing that to another that was not threatening it or anything. Maybe that particular skunk did something to the possum in the past…
Ha! Somehow, SO “2020”. (A new carnival booth game: Whack -a-… Skunk!)