Talk:Skunks as pets

message: *How can the Table of Contents be made less choppy, while still making it easy to find information at a glance?
*What are some other sections that could be added to make it less of a skunk-care-focused article?
*Does anyone have any information about pet skunks in other countries, that could be added to make this article less Americo-centric?
*What info should be added to the lead paragraph?
*Is anyone noticing specific layout problems?
**Update - most of this stuff has been resolved. 
Nathanlarson32767 07:20, 20 Dec 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Proposed revisions

message: The section about worms is fictional, and needs to be updated, changed, or removed.  Almafeta 05:16, 30 Nov 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: Can you explain in more detail about the worms? The info came from Skunk Stuff. Jane Bone has been studying skunks for about 30 years and her work has gone through successive revisions over the years.Nathanlarson32767 05:36, 30 Nov 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: I know Mrs. Bone's work, which is usually top-notch, but this is a myth (similar to the 'all skunks are born rabid' myth that still spreads).  Although there are special breeds of parasites especially adapted to skunks, they are not the sole carriers (dogs often carry Baylisascaris columnaris as well), and a skunk from a throughly hygienic breeder will not have these worms.  I'm not saying it's not a danger, however—perhaps the worms part of the veterinary care section could be changed to "problems" that list common problems that a skunk might face (such as distemper and weak immune systems).  Anyhow, it's nice to see a fellow skunk lover about.  :)  Almafeta 06:28, 30 Nov 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Worm discussion (restored from deleted talk page)

message: "Domestic skunk" is the more formal name. -- Nathanlarson32767 06:55, 20 Dec 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: [[Pet skunk]] &#8594; [[Domestic skunk]]

message: I have trimmed the skunk care overview, so that it is about 1/3 the total article size. I have mainly tried to keep stuff that gives an overall impression of skunk care, and also the Diet and Roundworms sections, because they were controversial and it is hard to find NPOV info elsewhere on the internet. Should the skunk care overview be trimmed further, and if so what parts? Nathanlarson32767 23:54, 21 Dec 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Continued streamlining of skunk care overview

message: Someone asked if all the links in the References section are actually used in the article, or if some are really External Links. Yup, all the References correspond to a footnote. The footnotes are in this type of format: . That links them to a web site, but doesn't link them to a reference in the References section. Superscript footnotes look nicer, and solve the problem of linking the footnotes to items in the Reference section, but I'm not sure it's possible to auto-number them. So, it would be laborious to insert or delete a footnote in the middle, because all the others following it would have to be incremented or decremented.
It could probably be done with some type of macro, though.  — Nathanlarson32767  (Talk) 16:49, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Footnotes

message: "Most wild skunks only spray when struck by cars or attacked." What a hoot. And this was plastered on the front page. I'm sure skunks spray just before being crushed to death by a car. I mean, just in case. Or *maybe* the glands rupture when the skunk is turned into roadkill, eh?
What a hoot.
:It could be a little of both.. see Roadkill: Driving Animals to Their Graves:
::Skunks newly awakened from winter hibernation are slow to recognize danger. When threatened, their defense is to turn their backs and spray. If you see a skunk beside the road, don't slow down abruptly. The skunk may think you've seen him and will attack. Act as if you're minding your own business and he'll go on about minding his.
:::Yeah, I'm pretty sure the sentence (as amusingly-worded as it is) is sort of trying to refer to the fact that skunks usually reserve their spray for emergencies. In fact, they usually will do a considerable amount of threatening actions before then, ranging from stomping, to skidding back (sometimes both at once, i.e. jumping forward to stomp, then perhaps pulling back with nails still on the ground), etc., and they also sort of rear up like a cat, and raise and fluff out their tails (they only raise their tails if they're threatened). If they're really seriously threatening you, they may also twist their body so the scent gland (i.e. their rear) is pointed towards you, while still trying to keep an eye on you. Looks very funny, actually (though the stomp really can be alarming if you're not aware they're there!). But yeah, they'll run away or threaten you first, often both. Spraying is very much a last resort for them. Runa27 22:21, 13 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Skunks getting hit by cars

message: Nathan, since you're the primary author of pet skunk, I'm going to put this comment here on your talk page instead of talk:pet skunk (although you could very well move this there). I scheduled the article go on the main page on the 9th, and neutrality raised two objections - that (a) it uses a mixture of superscripts and inline references (I have fixed this) and (b) that the copyright status of the picture is a bit uncertain. The latter is a valid concern. I'd appreciate it if you take a look at the Copyright Faq that Jamesday and I wrote, and (since most of the pictures are not yours) you could contact the person(s) from whom you got them and be a bit clearer what license they are available under. →Raul654 00:53, Jan 7, 2005 (UTC)
:Whoops. The link I gave you was broken. Try Wikipedia:Copyright FAQ →Raul654 03:02, Jan 8, 2005 (UTC)
::Well, the one currently on the Main Page (of Mocha, the mahogony-colored skunk) is definitely okay to be there.. although most permissions have come in the form of "Sure, you can use it" without specifying a license type. Hmm.  — Nathanlarson32767  (Talk) 18:00, 9 Jan 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: [[Pet skunk]] issues

message: I'm not really sure why this subject has its own page. Why not incorporate it into the Skunk page? This is what is done with other domestic animals, such as Domestic cat and Domestic Dog—they redirect to their corresponding pages (Cat and Dog, respectively), which have sections about having these animals as pets. Besides, the title 'Pet Skunk' is quite amusing; when I saw it featured on the Main Page, I wondered what was going on... Coolsi 18:24, 9 Jan 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Yeah, I thought about unifying the two articles. At first glance, it seems to make more sense. However, note the article feral cat. I think it is useful to the reader to divide the info on feral and domestic animals of the same species into two separate articles, if there are large populations of each. The feral skunk info goes under skunk, since that is probably what the majority of people going there are looking for. I would have preferred renaming this page domestic skunk, but the voters chose otherwise..  — Nathanlarson32767  (Talk) 18:51, 9 Jan 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: That's because "domestic" implies it's bred in captivity and tamed. You can have a pet squirrel, too; that doesn't mean it's domestic. Trained perhaps, but domesticated implies being bred.  ALKIVAR™ 02:12, 14 Jan 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: They have been selectively bred for fur for several hundred years, so in that sense they are at least as domesticated as the mink. [http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+reg+4VAC15-20-50 Virginia law recognizes "domesticated races of mink".  — Nathanlarson32767  (Talk) 17:31, 17 Jan 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: On the other, note Jane Bone's comment: Baby skunks are not puppies or kittens and cannot be raised as such! They have been bred not for their personality, but for their fur. They are rejects from a fur farm and require more handling than puppies or kittens.  — Nathanlarson32767  (Talk) 17:36, 17 Jan 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  ...Pet Skunk? 

message: As soft as a cat's? Kent Wang 11:29, 17 Jan 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Their fur is more silky. Like muskrats, they are usually classified by law as fur-bearing animals.  — Nathanlarson32767  (Talk) 17:31, 17 Jan 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  How soft is a skunk's fur? 

message: Someone wrote:
:Inside the European Union, purchasing or transferring skunks between countries isn't regulated in any way. Skunks also don't carry any contagious diseases, which would mandate quarantining them or requiring pet passports or vet certifications. Importing skunks from outside the EU area might not be allowed; laws differ from country to country.
Can we find support for the statement that skunks don't carry any contagious diseases? It sounds doubtful. A reference would be helpful. 24.75.98.89 01:18, 28 Mar 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Skunks and contagious diseases

message: This article should be converted to the  and  format. Kilo-Lima Vous pouvez parler 20:53, 11 March 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Citations

message: How many pet skunks are there roughly in the United States? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 209.206.165.1 (talk) 04:04, 27 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: There's probably no real way to get an accurate count of even legally-owned skunks, though if licenses are public knowledge, then those numbers could be cited in states where you can have one only with a license. However, even then certain states have different approaches to it; apparently in one state, you can only have one skunk per household. In Florida, though, you can not only have multiple skunks per household, you only need one license to cover all of your skunks. Not mentioned in the article, but it is true because when my mother bought the second skunk, they told her she wouldn't need a new license because the old one covered it, especially since it (the license) was only a couple of years old. There are, however, enough skunk owners to have at least one convention, which implies several hundred to several thousand owners, so I would say several thousand pet skunks at least, but I can't give any better estimate than that without looking at the number of licenses. Plus, do some states require notification of when one skunk dies? Not all might, further hindering efforts to get reliable numbers. Runa27 22:30, 13 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: How many?

message: I have a chihuahua and a cat, my chihuahua is more active but my cat is more agile.  My chihuhua can jump about 22 inches high, my cat can easily jump up 25 inches, how high would an adult skunk be able to jump?  How active are skunks compared to chihuahuas and cats?  Dionyseus 18:56, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Skunks are not particularly agile, as they are adapted more for burrowing and digging and hibernation than cats and dogs are, and their natural scent glands mean they don't usually have to jump away from predators and such. They don't really jump, though they can learn to pull themselves up to, say, the top of a hassock by their front legs, and when we got our second skunk and decided to keep him in a large training cage for the first few months, he really liked to climb up the walls of it. So, they can be quite strong and somewhat decent at climbing, but they don't really jump because they aren't made for it (short legs and very bottom heavy). How active they are really depends on the skunk and the conditions. A fatter skunk is usually less active, I've found, and they can be quite "active" in following you around, especially if they think you're going to feed them. They can run surprisingly fast, but I'd imagine cats and most dogs are faster, not to mention less clumsy. They do play a little—stomping/skidding games mostly—but they're not active players in the way kittens and puppies are. They are very curious though, and ours spend most of their waking hours trying to get cabinets open or digging in underneath the ferret cage for stray food pieces. :P They're sort of more built to fatten up for the winter than to be sleek hunters, if you will (when they do hunt, it's more oppurtunistic than stalking, partly because of their extreme nearsightedness. They'll eat live bugs, but unless a bug is about an inch from their face, they'll never notice it unless they smell it). Also: adorably clumsy. They're more a cuddling-and-ambling-around, trying-to-get-into-the-pantry type of animal. Runa27 22:48, 13 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:   How agile and active are skunks? 

message: Alright, so if you look at the state legality list on the main entry for pet skunks, you'll see for Georgia it says that they're illegal, except for the black and white ones. It referred me to Georgia's Department of Natural Resources which has a list of animals that aren't allowed to be pets, Skunk being one of them, which contradicts what the list on the Wikipedia entry says. Thanks. Sdws17 20:47, 30 September 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Conflicting pet legality in Georgia 

message: The section reads like a brochure. It is very slanted for skunks as pets.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.113.245.194 (talk) 17:41, 15 March 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Temperament Section Neutrality 

message: It's a myth that eating sugar leads to diabetes in humans (check the Canadian Diabetes site for verification) and I suspect that it is a myth that it does in skunks, so the several references here need citations for clinical evidence of such a link if it does exist.
That said, I'm inclined to buy the argument that sugar in any form isn't a natural food for too many animals. 
--174.7.25.37 (talk) 06:29, 5 August 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Sugar -> diabetes? 

message: Shouldn’t this be located at something like “Skunk as pet”? The title “Pet skunk” seems to imply that this is a different thing than having a common skunk as a pet. —Frungi (talk) 22:24, 10 May 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  The article’s name 

message: :Pet skunk →  – as per Frogs as pets, Chickens as pets, Crickets as pets, Wolves as pets and working animals… The current name doesn’t seem encyclopedic, and it seems to imply that a pet skunk is somehow different from a common skunk kept as a pet. Frungi (talk) 22:39, 10 May 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: And it’s done. That was easy. Thanks, Apteva! —Frungi (talk) 01:02, 11 May 2013 (UTC)
thread_title: Requested move

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thread_title:  Blacklisted Links Found on the Main Page 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

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thread_title:  External links modified