Minnesota Zoo Keeper Chat with Naturalist Donnie and a Striped Skunk

Naturalist Donnie shares Leia, a striped skunk from Minnesota, with us in this edition of Keeper Chat. Leia is named after Princess Leia because she was born on May 4 but striped skunks get their name because of the black and white stripes that go all the way down their back.
Striped skunks only have a limited number of sprays available to them at any given time so they leverage several defense tactics before employing the defense mechanism for which they’re most known.
They like to come out at dusk and dawn and encounters with striped skunks are not unusual because they associate humans with food. If you ever see a skunk out and about in the wild, be sure to give it some space!
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