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March 12, 2007
You can add skunks to the long list of us bleary-eyed wanderers inconvenienced by this early switch to Daylight Saving Time.
And, if you're an early walker, runner or commuter, you can add skunks to your list of reasons to dislike this change.
Forget the cranky, sleep-deprived co-workers you've got to tip-toe past as they adjust to their new hours. Forget the virus that's going to wreck your computer. It's the skunks that could make your life miserable in the next few weeks.
R.I. Department of Environmental Management illustration
As winter evolves into spring, skunks celebrate their own version of March Madness, leaving their dens to forage for food and affection. "It's mating season for the skunks," says Tony DeJesus, technical and service manager for New England Pest Control, the guys who bring us the Big Blue Bug off Route 95 in Providence.
Survey: Tell us about your close encounters with skunks.
Skunks are night creatures, DeJesus explains, so most of their eating and, um, playing happens while the rest of us are tucked into our beds.
Providence Journal contributor and nature writer Ken Weber describes their nocturnal activities this way:
"Most skunks sleep much of the winter so they are hungry as well as amorous. That combination of objectives seems to make them weave all over the place; seeing their staggering tracks usually brings to mind the saying: 'drunk as a skunk.'"
But now that it's March and the sun doesn't rise until after 7 a.m., there's a better chance that one of us will encounter a skunk as it wanders like a drunk home from a date, and we walk Fido, go for our morning jog or wander bleary-eyed to our car for the morning commute.
A would-be commuter, dog or runner who approaches too fast -- and doesn't retreat fast enough -- could trigger the skunk's legendary defense mechanism, DeJesus says.
These meetings can turn out worse for the skunks.
Driving through New Bedford on Route 195 this morning, I caught a familiar scent (although it's one that I hadn't smelled in months) telling me that a skunk looking for love might instead have found the tire of a Ford or a Chevrolet.
Pity the poor skunk. They're not all bad. DeJesus says they usually give a warning by stamping their front feet or growling "just to say back off" before delivering their shot.
And believe it or not, at least one Cape Cod man claims that skunks make a good meal. The Cape Cod Times featured a sad story this weekend about a unique character whose house burned down.
Joel Connolly is a legend with his neighbors in Brewster, Mass., for his self-sufficient lifestyle, which, he says, includes dining on roadkill.
Connolly had earlier told the Times: ''Skunk liver is one of the best-tasting livers I've ever had. Raccoons and skunks have nice fat underneath and it melts out and you get nice grease for shortening.''
So watch out for skunks, you early risers.
Or if it's your thing, happy hunting.
Posted by Jack Perry 
at 1:45 PM | Permalink
Jacckkkk -- The morning commute through New Bedford is only enchanced by the random skunk or roadkill. You should see the subway "skunks" that bleary-eyed commuters see here...
Posted by: Frank on March 12, 2007 9:35 PM
Please be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published.
