It’s not unusual to spot Kathryn Wysocki and her pet skunks out and about around town. They spend a lot of time time at Green Bench Brewery, and Red Mesa Mercado where “we sit out on the patio and eat all the time. They’re used to us,” Wysocki says. Wysocki and her crew are also regulars at festivals and fairs throughout the region.
If you happen to spot them, please, please, go and say hello. Ask to pet the skunks. Ask anything you want, in fact. That’s what they’re there for — to engage the public, help folks see that skunks can be charming and delightful creatures, not to be feared but to be loved.
“They get into your heart,” Wysocki says, drinking an iced tea on the patio at Red Mesa Mercado on a recent evening, her pet skunk Rosie napping on the table. Another skunk, Tyson, is hanging around as well with his person Michelle Barclay — who says she and her husband moved to Florida from Illinois in part to be able to adopt a skunk.
“It’s legal here,” Barclay explains.
“I love skunks because they get into your heart like no other animal,” says Wysocki.
Wysocki would know. She is the proud adoptive mom to four pet skunks, Rosie, Lily, Nelly and Rory — “and 5 rescue cats,” she adds — though in the 25 years since she first got involved with skunks there have been many more.
“They’re like potato chips,” she jokes (we think!). “You can’t have just one.”
On top of being a personal skunk enthusiast, Wysocki is events officer for Florida Skunk Rescue. This is a nonprofit dedicated to caring for homeless pet skunks and finding them loving homes. Around 15 or 20 skunks a year come through the rescue — some because their families are moving to states where it is not legal to own pet skunks (in Florida, pet skunk ownership is legal but you need a special permit); others who are elderly and have expensive medical costs their former families couldn’t cover.
“We have some that were bought on impulse and they required more care than the people expected. We get our rescues pretty much the same way that every other rescue gets them,” Wysocki says.
These are not wild skunks, which it is illegal to keep as companion animals even in oh-so permissive Florida, but special-bred pets. Wysocki raves about her pet skunks, describing them both as “the best of a dog and a cat,” and also as “like having a terminal toddler.”
Rosie, Lily, Nelly and Rory have the run of the house, are trained to go to the bathroom on pee pads and enjoy lots of outings. They help out at humane education kids’ camps around Tampa Bay, and are excited for car rides. The skunks are often costumed in fancy dresses and seasonally appropriate costumes, and sometimes sleep in bed. They follow Wysocki into the bathroom.
“You know how you can never be alone in the bathroom with cats?” Wysocki says. “Try that with five cats and four skunks.”
In other words: these skunks are companion animals, just of a fairly unusual variety.
“They’re a lot of fun for the right person,” Wysocki says.
The fun is only part of it. Wysocki and others from Florida Skunk Rescue are also eager to help folks get over what they see as irrational and harmful negative stereotypes that people have about the animals they so love.
In this case that means the pet skunks and their wild cousins, about whom there is a lot of misinformation. Skunks are not, for example, born with rabies — and if you see one during the day, this is not a sign of them being sick. While these animals tend to be most active at dawn and dusk, even during the day they are probably simply looking for food, just like you are. Their diet includes many insects — so they’re good in that way, too, as a natural pest control.
As for the spraying issue, while you and your dog might get sprayed by a skunk if you are unlucky, by and large skunks would prefer not to spray you. That’s because skunks’ spray is their only real defense against predators. They have only a small amount of it in the sacs by their anal glands, then it can take several days to make more. Spraying you or your dog essentially leaves them defenseless.
Not that you want to go testing this theory, OK, but just don’t freak out if you run into a wild skunk is the point. Pet skunks are often descented — though there’s some debate about whether that’s cruel or not; Wysocki’s, in any case, were all descented by their breeders when they were very young, before she got them.
“I just tease people sometimes. I’ll tell them one of the skunks hasn’t been descented but we cant remember which one it is,” Wysocki says.
To reinterate: In the wild, appreciate skunks from afar. And at Red Mesa Mercado, come say hi. You won’t be alone.
On this evening, a lot of people approach to meet Rosie and Tyson. They’re curious whether they bite (they don’t), whether they spray (no again), and if they can take some pictures (yes, of course!).
As it’s getting to be time to go home, yet another fan approaches. She is, naturally, eager to snuggle Rosie and Tyson — then pulls out her phone to show the table a picture of her own unusual beloved pet: a rescued raccoon.
Find out more about Florida Skunk Rescue and learn about upcoming events on Facebook.
Now us, editorializing: there are convincing allegations of cruelty in the skunk breeding world, so if you find yourself ready to bring a skunk into your home, please adopt from Florida Skunk Rescue or another reputable rescue group or shelter instead of buying from a pet store.
This article appears in Dec 7-14, 2017.
