3-week-old baby skunks under care after being separated from mother

Two baby skunks, who are around three weeks old, were discovered on their own after their mother was trapped in northwest Calgary and relocated. The Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation (AIWC) currently has 13 orphaned or displaced skunks in its care.

Baby skunk season has arrived in southern Alberta, according to the Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation. (AIWC), which wants to share a few tips for any Calgarian who might find one in their backyard.

The organization, which has been dedicated to the rehabilitation of injured and orphaned wildlife since its founding in 1993, issued a media release Wednesday announcing that three striped baby skunks have come into its care in the past week after being separated from their mothers.

Two, who are around three weeks old, were discovered on their own after their mother was trapped in northwest Calgary and relocated. The babies are too young to survive on their own, so they will be cared for by the AIWC’s clinic team until they have grown a bit, when they’ll be released back into the wild.

The message that the AIWC hopes to send to the public is that prevention, rather than relocation, is the best approach for coexisting with skunks.

That means blocking denning sites, properly storing food waste and installing motion-sensitive lights work better for living alongside skunks than relocating them, which breaks up families, putting baby skunks at risk.

The AIWC also wants to remind the public that skunks play a significant role in the Alberta ecosystem, managing pests such as a mice, grasshoppers and caterpillars, which makes them helpful for both farmers and gardeners.

Anyone who finds a baby skunk in distress is asked to contact the AIWC wildlife hotline at 403-946-2361.

The organization says it currently has 13 orphaned or displaced skunks in its care.