"One thing we tell people most frequently is that this constant spraying they're smelling is temporary, For most people who call our hotline looking for advice just because they're smelling it a lot, basically we tell them, 'Patience is a virtue.' If you can just wait it out a little bit, it'll stop as soon as they find their mates. Then the females will go den to have their young."
"What's happening is the males are pursuing the females, and if the female is not interested, she sprays them,"
"It's their defense for predators, but it's also their defense for, you know, unwanted Valentine's Day advancements."
Striped skunk mating season runs approximately January through March, producing kits around May. Males actively pursue females; females will spray unwanted advances as a defensive behavior. Striped skunks are common across urban and rural California; spotted skunks occur but are rare. Skunks have poor eyesight and rely on a keen sense of smell to forage, consuming slugs, snails, voles, mice and wasps, which can benefit gardens. WildCare fields roughly 200 skunk-related calls annually in Marin County, and vector control agencies also see seasonal upticks in complaints about spraying and skunk activity.
Read at SFGATE
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