"I don’t think we’ll ever know all there is to know about gardening, and I’m just as glad there will always be some magic about it!"

Barbara Damrosch

 home’s landscaping

Updating your home’s landscaping is a great way to increase the value of your property and create outdoor spaces for relaxing and entertaining. Unique ideas here will make your garden fit for a king

Landscape design is an independent profession and a design and art tradition, practised by landscape designers, combining nature and culture. In contemporary practice, landscape design bridges the space between landscape architecture and garden design.

  • Skunks have been recently removed from the same classification as the weasel family.
  • Spotted skunks are a very rare site during the day opting to stay in their dens even during the night if the moon is bright.
  • While there are only four (4) species of skunks there are several subspecies that differ for the most part in appearance only.
  • Skunks will roll caterpillars on the ground to remove the hairs before eating them.
  • They will also roll beetles that emit a defensive scent, causing the beetle to deplete its scent before they eat it.
  • Western spotted skunks mate in the fall.
  • The Western spotted skunk delays implantation of the embryo.
  • Eastern spotted skunks and striped skunks mate in the spring.
  • In general, the species will have between five (5) to seven (7) babies.
  • The spray from a skunk will not cause permanent blindness because our eyes quickly tear up removing any residue from the spray substance
  • Skunks have a limited supply of defensive spray so they do not spray without provocation. A striped skunk can only spray five (5) to eight (8) times within a short period before running on empty. It takes close to a full week for their bodies to recuperate enough and have more spray available for defense.
  • Stripped skunks first try to scare a would-be threat away by stomping its feet, followed by charging with its tail raised in the direction of the threat. If all of those methods fail it will then resort to spraying. This is done by bending in the middle so that they are facing the same direction as their rear. They will arch their back and erect their tail and the spray will flow from two (2) glands on opposite sides of their interior anus.
  • The Spotted Skunk has a much more pungent spray than the other species of skunks, but according to experts are less likely to spray opting to run away more often than not. However, if they do decide to spray it can be quite a site! The spotted skunk will literal perform a handstand while spraying. The skunk will stand on its front feet with its back arched spraying forward!
  • Much like some the military’s most stealth weapons, or perhaps common place sci-fi theater weapon design, the individual sprays of the skunk will meet approximately 12 inches outside of the animal where they then join to become a fine mist of the most powerful deterrent known to the mammal world. The stream reaches and end point nearly 2-3 meters (6-9 feet) out.
  • The spray of the all skunks is musky in odor, amber in color and oily. It is its oily composition that makes the odor hard to get rid of, although it will go away.
  • It may take two (2) to four (4) months for the odor to disappear from objects.
  • There are many home remedies and store bought substances that help to remove the odor from pets and objects sooner than later including tomato juice, carbolic soap.