What do Skunks like to Eat? #LoveForFood

Now that you have decided to opt for the skunks as pets, the next important aspect you would want to give a severe thought would be to find what do the skunks eat. To be frank, skunks tend to be highly opportunistic when it comes to eating and feeding themselves. They would prefer spying and preying on animals that are much smaller than themselves.

If you have a skunk as a pet and looking to find what it would eat, we would definitely help you out with the task. However, before delving deeper into the concept, we will get a snapshot.

So, what do skunks like to eat? Skunks are omnivores. They get adapted to any kind of diet. In any case, the favorite food for the skunks remains to be smaller prey and insects. They prefer eating plants when food is not available. In fact, it may try finding food in the garbage and trash if the food is extremely scarce. This can ideally happen in the winters. The summers and spring are the two seasons they prefer preying on normal prey.

That should perhaps answer your query rather to the point. Skunks tend to eat as much as they can in the summers so that they are sustained well enough during these months.

What do Skunks Like to Eat?

Skunks are omnivores, and they do not behave as picky or choosy when it comes to food. The key to their eating habits is mere survival, and they do not hesitate to find food in practically anything – garbage included. Skunks are also known to showcase a scavenger tendency. They would just adapt to any kind of food habit and opt for the food depending upon the season and availability.

The skunks DO NOT like killing animals. More than not liking, they do not have the necessary physical ability to kill animals as such. In fact, they do have self-defense mechanism when they are attacked, but combating or attacking other animals is something they would not be able to handle.

A few foods they would prefer would include:

We will cover the concept of skunks and their eating habits in more detail here:

Skunks Prefer to Eat Small Preys

Skunks are not equipped with a capacity to combat and kill. That is precisely why they feed on smaller prey and insects. They would also prefer killing defenseless animals and birds like rabbits, chicks, and ground-nesting birds.

In fact, keeping a skunk as a pet can be a great option to help you take care of the harmful insects that may damage your garden. The estimates suggest that more than 75 percent of the skunk diet consists of harmful insects that tend to damage the gardens.

What do Skunks Eat in Winters?

Unlike most of the other animals, skunks do not hibernate in the winters. Since there is not much food available in the winters, they would prefer eating small insects or even feast on a plant-based diet.

Skunks Eat Plants as well !!

Skunks are omnivores. They would prefer eating plants when they have no proper food available. Do note that when the carnivorous food is not available, they would decide to opt for plant food for mere survival.

The roots have been observed to be their favorite options. The availability at the ground level is what makes them easily accessible.

The above have been few things which skunks can eat; however, now lets have a look at what skunks actually like to eat the most & what do they eat in the wild.

What do Skunks eat in the Wild?

While in the wild, Skunks would prefer fruits and other vegetable products. Some common food items that skunks would prefer can include berries, cherries, blueberries, and roots. Skunks prefer eating thee food that is low in fat content. Following is the list of food items that Skunks eat in the wild:

As stated before, skunks are omnivores, they are not much picky about what to eat and how to find the right options to eat. They do not move faster, and that would mean they would find it a little difficult to run behind the animals that they want to prey.

That is one of the reasons why skunks kill and eat smaller animals. Since they do not chase their food, they eat whatever is available for them. In fact, skunks eat plants and animals in an equal manner. During the summers and fall seasons, they would prefer eating animal food.

They do not hibernate like other animals and thus in winter, when the food is quite scarce, they rely on food supply from plant sources.

The Concluding Remarks

Well, that should have made you understand clearly every detail of what skunks eat. In essence, skunks have been observed to be quite adaptive when it comes to finding food. The discussion above should ideally let you pick the food items wisely so that you would feed your pet skunks precisely what they want to.

Check out the right tips outlines above and arrive at the right options for your needs.