Skunks

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vetcan
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I have a skunk who eats on a regular basis in my back yard. Not sure if it is a male or female. What I do know is that it does eat side by side with the cats I feed, and it has tried to come into my house twice.

She/he has been coming around for the last 3 months and we can walk right up to it and it does not run, hiss or spray. Could this have been someones pet or does it mean possible rabies?

The skunk is always by itself.
Any thoughts?
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Brenda
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It just means that it has become accustomed to being fed. It is illegal to have a skunk as a pet, and rabies would have killed it off some time ago though it is still a concern because it isn't vaccinated. Your best bet would be to remove any food and start scaring it off.
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Matt
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skunks are relatively friendly if they get used to humans. Doesn't mean you want them around at all... they get spooked easily and they could spray something you may not able to clean.
Like, Brenda said, remove all the food outdoors.
If you must feed feral or stay cats, lift the food up high, skunks can climb but not very well.
Pick up some [amazon=B000GPMHFA]Fox urine tabs[/amazon] if you want to discourage it from coming around.
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