OHIO – Skunks are all around us mostly keeping to themselves but two times in the year you will smell them, Spring and Fall, both for good reasons.
In the late winter to early spring (January-March) Skunks are in full mating season, and most people smell them moving around searching and fighting for mates. Babies are then born after a few months in April or May. Momma raises them all summer, and into the fall until they are old enough to go out on their own.
In the fall the young kits have grown into adults leave the nests of mom and move into their own territories. Skunks are generally nocturnal, but young skunks are more likely to be active during the daytime, so you might see them out in your yard. Male skunks go off on their own right away, but young female skunks may stay with their mother through the winter. Young Skunks find themselves in new circumstances and new places, that’s why you start smelling them. Along with new territories, Skunks look for places to overwinter and for extra bites to eat so they can fatten up for the winter.
Skunks do not truly hibernate, but they do stay in their dens for long periods of time, and come out when the weather is mild.
