Woke up this morning to find this little fella in my backyard, legs up.
Figured he/she fell victim to a predator. Went outside to take a closer look after the crew arrived to finish installing the headers for the heat pumps. The skunk's right paw was resting on his chest and his other three legs were in the air trembling. My first thought is that he might have ingested a dose of poison. My next door neighbor has a garden and my other neighbor is very protective of their Scotland terrier. The latter trapped and got rid of an old, arthritic skunk that would drop by to snack around my birdfeeders in the evening.
The above picture was taken three hours after I first noticed him this morning. He had turned on his side and had come out of his catatonic state, but to my eye, his overall condition was the same. I began to wonder of something else was wrong. Maybe distemper?
Around six this evening, his symptoms seemed to have improved. He was no longer trembling and he was able to direct his attention. I took this picture a few minutes ago.
Still alive, but he seems to have succumbed to exhaustion. No labored breathing in any of my observations today. Not sure what is ailing him or if he is going to make it through the night. I was cheering for his recovery earlier, but I now hold the belief that whatever he has come into contact with is fatal.
Figured he/she fell victim to a predator. Went outside to take a closer look after the crew arrived to finish installing the headers for the heat pumps. The skunk's right paw was resting on his chest and his other three legs were in the air trembling. My first thought is that he might have ingested a dose of poison. My next door neighbor has a garden and my other neighbor is very protective of their Scotland terrier. The latter trapped and got rid of an old, arthritic skunk that would drop by to snack around my birdfeeders in the evening.
The above picture was taken three hours after I first noticed him this morning. He had turned on his side and had come out of his catatonic state, but to my eye, his overall condition was the same. I began to wonder of something else was wrong. Maybe distemper?
Around six this evening, his symptoms seemed to have improved. He was no longer trembling and he was able to direct his attention. I took this picture a few minutes ago.
Still alive, but he seems to have succumbed to exhaustion. No labored breathing in any of my observations today. Not sure what is ailing him or if he is going to make it through the night. I was cheering for his recovery earlier, but I now hold the belief that whatever he has come into contact with is fatal.
