What is a skunk’s natural diet, and how does it get its food



It is always interesting to know about how a species obtains its food and what exactly would they feed on, isn’t it? When talking about skunks, it is essential to know what they prefer naturally and what means do they find easy to get about the diet that would be most natural for them. It is one of the very few omnivore animals. It may feed on plants as well as meat. Skunk will more or less feed on anything that comes their way. However, during different seasons, temporary preferences might vary but overall, they are omnivorous. They are known to be opportunistic and eat what’s in front of them. However, there are always preferences in both categories. In colder days, they’ll be found feeding on both animals and plants more or less in equal quantities. However, since during summer and spring, animal material is relatively available more so that’s their go to food. Insects, wasps, beetles, honeybee and grasshoppers are few of their favorite animals to feed on. Apart from these insects, the essentials of skunk’s feed are earthworms, grubs, cottontails, rabbits & tiny rats. They will also love to eat lizards, salamanders, slugs, bats, moles and eggs.

Why Does Food Consumption Vary?
Skunks also target field mice, rabbits and voles as well. Amphibians such as frogs, reptiles and fish are also included in a good skunk supper. However, 3 factors play a massive role in what they would eat in the next meal. Habitat, weather & availability. Food that has already fallen on the ground and is easily accessible is more worthy to skunks. Similarly, crops or fruit that is rotten will be a diet that they would love.

Skunks Like To Hunt For Food at Night
The night time is the prime time for skunks and their search for food. Since they are nocturnal, they will mostly go around looking to hunt at night like other rodents. The one thing worth knowing about skunks is that they don’t store food and would hop on to stored food by other rodents. However, for themselves, they will never look to store. They will search, look for it or hunt and make it their meal. Each of them likes to go hunting alone. Skunks might use spray technique in order to defeat any enemies coming in their way to search for food.

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