You may often wonder what skunks feed on as food, or love to eat? Skunks are one of the few omnivorous animals in the world, and they seek food in both plant and animal.
Skunks are very opportunistic with their diet and are not picky with food; they go for available foods. They eat plants and small animals, whether dead or alive as well as dog food. Their diet includes fresh fruits, fish, fresh vegetables, insects, bees, ants, frogs etc. Skunks can also source food from the garbage.
Skunk diets include plants like fruits, seeds, nuts, maize, berries, peanut butter, dog foods and may also eat from the garbage to stay healthy.
Generally, Skunks feed mainly for survival and to stay healthy, this is seen in their diet. It is safe to say skunks being an adaptive animal do not have a favorite when it comes to food. Their menu search is any available meal.
Skunk has a powerful sense of smell; they are easily drawn to foods with a strong scent. Skunks are attracted to foods that are high in protein. These foods include fish, meat, mice, insects, grasshoppers, butter, chicken, frogs and more attract them.
Generally, they prefer animal protein to plant protein. Small animals are an essential part of their diet. That explains why they easily eat rodents in the garden, pets, insects and many more animal proteins like snakes.
It might interest you to know that skunks are one of the highest predators of bees. They come for bees and honey. They try to devise a means of escaping its sting. The thick tufts on their body help in protecting them from the stingy when they hunt for bees and its honey for food.
Skunk family is slow, and cannot afford to prey on fast prey. That is why they target smaller animals for their diet. Dunks are used to food like earthworms, larva, frogs, eggs, caterpillars, crickets, small rodents, grubs, young snakes. These animals are easy to prey on and do not need much strength to chase them, and this has made it their favorite snack.
Different seasons come with its own environmental and weather uniqueness, and this affects the diet of skunks. Skunks are very opportunistic and adaptive dinners; they tend to adapt to the seasons for their food. They are used to feeding on different foods during different seasons.
During fall and winter, food gets more scarce and preying is not particularly easy. Skunk often focuses more on plants for food. They also prey on insects during winter for food. They must depend more on plants because they are more available to them than animals.
Plants like fruits, seeds, nuts, plant roots grapes, berries and even corn make up their food sources. Plants within their reach during winter serves as their diet since they are not picky animals.
During winter months these animals can also feed on human diet, especially if they find themselves in human homes. They also eat decayed foods, leftover foods and even garages.
Summer and spring provide animals with the right weather to breed and reproduce. The season gives room for an abundance of food. Predators, like skunks, are blessed with varieties of food during this season.
During this period, skunks feed on animal protein more than they feed on plants protein. Look out for insects, small rodents, small reptiles, chicken, crickets, black widow spiders, mice, lavas, as well as eggs. Skunks may also feed on many house pests like cockroaches, young snakes, chicken, beetles, birds, frogs, black widow spiders, mice, during summer seasons. Small animals within their reach are a source of food for it.
One thing every animal fights for is survival. Skunks do well in human environments; it helps their survival. It is common to see them in humans’ sites and yards because it processes the basic food it needs for survival. They are found at the back of the house and gardens.
Skunks are known to be omnivorous creatures and find food in human diets. Skunks can easily find food around the human site and yard. They are ranging from insects in the fields to pests as well as spoilt food. Skunks depend largely on availability to feed, so they seek out sites and yards that have abundant food and water.
As earlier said, skunks are opportunistic creatures; skunks often eat almost anything to stay alive, including dead animals, making them scavengers. Skunks search and eat animal carcasses killed by other animals.
They can eat birds, rodents, and snakes carcasses as food. Skunks are nocturnal creatures; they don’t just hunt at night; they also clear out garbage in search of food.
Some foods are often poisonous to skunks, and they cannot eat them. Food sources like onions, grapes, avocado deeds and iceberg lettuce may not be safe for them.
Skunks usually go for animals that are smaller than them in terms of size. Skunks eat mice. The cat, on the other hand, is a big prey for skunks; hence it is not a source of food.
Skunks feed on any available food they find in the wild. They can eat common wild fruits, wild plants roots, wild nuts and seeds depending on what they lay their hands on.
Skunks usually have a strong odor that comes from they spray into the air for self-defence. The spray releases offensive odor to the world around. Part of the reasons people don’t keep them as pets.
They may eat almost anything they find, and this makes it easy for them. Skunks also help in pest control. They keep pests out by eating them. When it comes to food, almost any available food will do for them—ranging from plants to animals and garbage.
