Skunks: The hot new pet?
Take away the stink, and a skunk might just take the dog's place at the foot of your bed
Skunks are kind of cute, but their stinky defense mechanism makes them a less-than-perfect pets... unless you're the Florida couple who owns 15. Photo: W. Perry Conway/Corbis SEE ALL 85 PHOTOS
Best Opinion: Tampa Bay Online, Sportress of Blogitude
The video: Skunks — they're cute little balls of fur with the power to blanket an area with a foul, sticky stench. They're clearly not the most mainstream pet, but one Florida couple is trying to change all that. Don and Brenda Hoch share their home with not one, but 15 skunks. (See a local news report below). And they encourage their Florida neighbors to welcome the animals into their lives as pets. But do they smell? Nope. The Hoch skunks are de-scented by the time they're two to three weeks old. Then they're free scamper around the house — climbing in and out of drawers, begging for food, and cuddling — just like dogs.
The reaction: Man, meet your new best friend, says Judy Slade, founder of Florida Skunk Rescue, as quoted by Tampa Bay Online. They're cute companions, but watch out, because pet skunks are also "like potato chips. You can't have just one." Well that may be going a bit overboard, says Sportress of Blogitude. They are certainly odd, and not exactly the "conventional choice" for a pet. But without the stink, why not? Judge for yourself:
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