Animal Bigotry

Canadian wildlife officials are looking for a driver to take a stinky stowaway skunk back to it's home in California.

But the skunk, who survived a seven-day journey across the United States and into Canada without food and water, after being accidentally locked away in a transport truck, is having a hard time finding someone to give her a ride home.


"Releasing her into the wild in Canada is out of the question", one official said.
"It's totally and utterly illegal from a provincial and federal standpoint to release a California skunk in Ontario."
As well, "skunks are very territorial animals ... "They won't just readily accept a stranger in their territory, so there will be a big skunk fight."
While airlines usually agree to return such "accidental travelers" for free, the response has not been positive in this particular case.

"I wouldn't want to fly on a plane with a skunk either," the official stated. "She's not necessarily going to spray, but I'm sure a skunk has never experienced takeoff and landing and those are pretty startling things, and that's usually when they spray."

Skunks can blast their sulfurous spray as far as 3 metres (10 feet) from two anal scent glands, leaving victims with stinging eyes and gasping for air.

Ground transport is the most likely way to get the skunk home, so the Wildlife Center is looking either for a private driver traveling to California or a willing trucking company with the Pacific Coast state on its route.

"At least if you're in a car, you can stop and roll down the windows," the official said. "If you're on a plane for five hours, you don't have a lot of options there."

She added that, despite the problem of finding transport, putting the animal down was out of the question.

"It is a perfectly healthy animal who's just gotten away from its home territory. Certainly, to euthanize it just because she doesn't have a ride home is not a nice option for us."

Those with an idea on how to get the animal home can contact the Toronto Wildlife Center at 1-416-631-0662.