Tyler Animal Control removes varmit from campus

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City of Tyler Animal Control officials caught their sixth skunk of the year Thursday morning outside of the Administration Building. Charles Petrovich, University police officer, called it in to Animal Control with City of Tyler Animal Control Officer Sharon Smith arriving on the scene.

Smith, on her first skunk call as an officer, called for backup after a 45-minute search with Mary Fowler, City of Tyler Animal Control senior field training officer and Daniel McIntosh catching the skunk in the hedges along the Administration Building. The three officers placed a trap and two plastic bags around their trap to catch the skunk.

Skunks have distinctive markings, a considerate gesture to let intruders know it is there. They can spray a noxious odor at a moment’s notice, according to an article from Animal Planet.com. Of course, skunks are most famous for their foul-smelling spray.

If threatened, the striped skunk fluffs its fur, lifts its tail and arches its back as a warning. If the intruder persists, the skunk will eject a foul-smelling liquid.
Skunk spray causes no real damage to its victims, but it sure makes them uncomfortable, according to an animal planet article.

It can linger for many days and defy attempts to remove it. As a defensive technique, the spray is very effective. To employ this scent bomb, a skunk turns around and blasts its foe with a foul mist that can travel as far as 10 feet (three meters).

Fowler said skunks tend to come out from their surroundings to find new places for shelter with all of the rain that East Texas received earlier in the week.
“Skunks are a high carrier of rabies,” Fowler said. “If you see one that is walking or acting funny and is out during the day then it is a good chance it has rabies.”

Most skunks present otherwise easy prey for larger animals, but typically these predators give them a wide berth unless little other food is available. Skunks usually nest in burrows constructed by other animals, but they also live in hollow logs or even abandoned buildings. In colder climates, some skunks may sleep in these nests for several weeks of the chilliest season.

Fowler said Animal Control sends all of the skunks they catch to the Klein Animal Shelter in Jacksonville where they are euthanized. “Odds are, the skunk that was found at the University was euthanized and people should not feed the skunks,” she said.