I may be showing my age, but I grew up in the “Looney Toons”-era of children’s cartoons.  I still find it enjoyable when they show up on one of the streaming services at home and watching them brings a smile to my face.  One of the characters has a little relevance to this time of year.  You may remember the skunk that was always in search of love, Pepe Le Pew.  Poor Pepe was always thwarted in his attempt to find a companion, usually because it was a cat he was mistakenly courting.

Although we are in the grips of winter, spring is around the corner, and with it, wildlife will become active and visible.  One of those species is skunks.  February and March is the breeding season for our smelly neighbors.  Just as Pepe was looking for love, male skunks are considered promiscuous and will attempt to mate with multiple females during the breeding season.  They will travel over a wide territory in search of receptive females.  This is why many of them will meet their end on our roads.

Females will be in estrus for 4 to 5 days.  The gestation length for skunks is about 60 days and they will give birth to 2-10 kits.  The kits are born hairless and blind.  The babies are weaned around 6 weeks of again. Just prior to them being weaned, you will see the conga line of mom with babies following out roaming the countryside in search of food.  Males during the breeding season and females out with their young present an issue for our pets.

We are very familiar with the smell of a dog that has been sprayed by a skunk.  We often don’t get a whiff until they come whimpering into the house.  We don’t find the smell funny and the dogs don’t either.  Not only is the skunk’s spray stinky, but it is also an irritant to your pet.  If your dog has sprayed, the recommendation is to:

• Wash out their eyes and mouth with clean water
• Bath them with a skunk shampoo.  Commercial products are available but you can make your own with 3 parts 3% hydrogen peroxide, 1 part baking soda, and a teaspoon of dish soap.
• Wash them a second time with your normal pet shampoo
• Check them for bites as skunks can transmit rabies
• Monitor for illness for the next couple of days and consult with your veterinarian if there is any abnormal behavior

There are still several programs that will be occurring in the coming weeks.  We have two more private pesticide and fertilizer applicator recertifications.  Those are on February 19^th at Kidron Community Center and March 3^rd at the Secrest Arboretum Welcome Center.  The Northeast Ohio Dairy Conference is February 11^th at the Fisher Auditorium.  February 24^th I will host a Beef Quality Assurance Recertification from 7 pm to 8 pm at Fisher Auditorium.  Finally, we will have our annual agronomy day on February 27^th at Secrest Arboretum Welcome Center.  All of these programs are free but courtesy reservations are requested.   If you have any questions, or would like more information about these programs, give me a call at the OSU Extension office in Wayne County at 330-264-8722.

This article was previously published in The Daily Record.