Mama Skunk adopts Orphaned baby, then a Miracle happens
A few years ago, Newhouse Wildlife Rescue saved a skunk from a scary situation. Her leg had gotten caught in an illegal trap, and she was badly injured.
When the rescuers examined the skunk, they realized something heartbreaking — she was a mama. Animal control looked everywhere for her babies but couldn’t find them.
About a week earlier, an orphaned baby skunk had arrived at Newhouse Wildlife Rescue. With two skunks in the rescue at the same time, Jane Newhouse, founder of Newhouse Wildlife Rescue, saw an opportunity for them to help each other.
“We knew we had a very lonely single baby with no siblings, and we had this very lonely mom with no babies,” Newhouse told The Dodo.
She decided to see what would happen if she put this mama and baby together. If they got along, it could be healing for both of them.
When she first put the mama and baby in the same enclosure together, she held her breath, unsure of how they would react. But the mama skunk’s protective instincts kicked in immediately.
“[S]he pressed her body against [the baby],” Newhouse said. “She was injured and standing in front of this little baby, like, ‘Leave it alone.’”
As touched as Newhouse was by the skunk’s selfless gesture, she wasn’t surprised. In her years working with wildlife, she’s seen many animal parents adopt babies.
“There’s more emotion there than I think a lot of people realize,” Newhouse said.
While many people only associate skunks with their smell, Newhouse says this story is a perfect example of how the black-and-white animals are more complex than people give them credit for.
“They have a very powerful self-defense mechanism, and it gives them a bad name,” Newhouse said. “But they’re actually really interesting, fascinating, emotional and very playful animals, from my observations as a wildlife rehabilitator.”
Just one day after the mama skunk took in the baby, something miraculous happened. Animal control called Newhouse Wildlife Rescue and let them know they’d found all of the mama skunk’s missing babies.
Finally, the mama was reunited with her babies, who happily embraced their new sibling.
Newhouse Wildlife Rescue took care of everyone until the mama was fully healed and the babies were strong enough to live in the wild. Before long, the time had come for the skunks to return to their natural habitat.
“We released them all together as one big, happy family,” Newhouse said.
