Our neighborhood nature photographer David Cruz came upon some young skunks on Strawberry Hill last night, out for an evening stroll. These guys are all over Golden Gate Park.
As cute as they are, keep your distance! Unless you like bathing in tomato juice…
Fun fact: Skunks are one of the primary predators of the honeybee, relying on their thick fur to protect them from stings. [Wikipedia]
Sarah B.
Not just on Strawberry Hill, either — I often see skunks walking along 48th Avenue across from Sutro Heights Park (in fact, once when I didn’t have my glasses on I thought one of them was a small cat and was going to try to pet it, but luckily realized my mistake in time).
Wow.. great pictures! Thanks for sharing! — btw, I always thought skunks were nocturnal. Guess these pics says otherwise.. lol. 🙂
I’ve never seen the front end nor in the light and this close– i’m surprised how cute they are. I’ve noticed too that when they are in the yard the number of snails and oxcalis (clover) decrease signficantly.
I’ve seen a few walking across 25th Avenue while waiting for the 1 Bus in front of the gas station early in the morning!
Another Fun Fact: They tend to rear up and raise their fur like a cat (and do a bit of a dance with their hind legs) before spraying, so if you see that, you can of course run fast the other way before you get hit! 🙂
@Jon C — maybe they’re planning to take the bus!
Little stinkers are pretty cute….
Cute!
OT: I once saw a crawfish (yes, it was a crawfish) crawling a cross the path around Stow Lake. I was pretty stunned to see this and let it be. Anyone ever seen a crawfish round there before?
Roger – I’ve also seen a crawfish walking along the path around Strawberry Hill at Stow Lake. Thought it was a large scorpion at first… only time I’ve seen one come out of the water.
Skunks – there’s at least one that street walks along middle Clement. I often smell him/her late at night when the window is open, and no its not someone smoking bo.