Skunks smell bad, they can make you smell bad, they’re at high risk for rabies(*), and they eat bees and eggs causing problems for beekeepers and chicken farmers.
However, they have one benefit: They eat yellowjacket wasps.
This spring Marcy Cunkelman remarked that a skunk keeps her yard free of yellowjackets and grubs. The skunk leaves holes but that’s better than stepping on a yellowjacket nest!
The video above shows a skunk digging for grubs.
The video below shows a skunk eating a yellow jacket nest. (Warning: It has music that sticks in your head all day! It also has subtitles so you don’t need the sound on. But you might be curious. What song is it?)
(videos embedded from YouTube. click on the videos to see the originals)
(*Rabies) Skunks are at high risk for catching rabies and are therefore called a “rabies vector species.”
In all mammals — humans as well as skunks — rabies does not make the animal feel and look sick until the rabies infection has reached the fatal stage. If you are bitten by a wild animal you cannot tell if it has rabies. The hidden illness is sometimes described as “carrying rabies.”
I was once told.. if you leave 1/2 of peanut butter/jelly sandwich near the nest at dusk.. it will attract a skunk to eat it.
“[Skunks] carry rabies.” No. Like other animals, skunks can become infected with rabies. These gentle mammals suffer from a bad rep and get treated inhumanely because of it (same with bats). This kind of characterization only fuels the hysteria surrounding skunks. How many times have I seen on social media something like: “There’s a skunk in my yard! How do I kill it?!” Just leave it alone.
I also put Tunafish in oil in hole so it can find easier. Raccoons and even bears will do this also.
Lion sleeps tonight.
That was so interesting about Pepe.
Thank you for the “fresh air”.
Last year a nest of ground dwelling bees that looked similar to honey bees appeared in my garden near my arbor with a seat. It was small, then got bigger. I was getting concerned about getting stung there was so much activity right in the middle of my garden. What to do? Did not want to kill bees. Nature solved it. Something dug it up overnight, scattering pieces of honeycomb, but still a lot of bees remained. A few nights later something came back and ate the rest. No more bees. I get raccoons and possums in my yard. Never saw a skunk. I wonder who dunnit???
Have had yellow jackets nest in my flower bed, having a time getting rid of it. This morning something dug out some of the best. Didn’t know skunks got after them. Glad this happened, it can stay here. I’ve seen a raccoon also