- Alright, Coyote Pack,
for the very first time,
I'm going to go face to face
with quite possibly the stinkiest animal in the world.
Yep, a skunk.
And I'm sure you're thinking,
"Oh yeah, you guys working with a skunk,
"it probably is degland,
"there's no way you're gonna get sprayed."
No, this skunk has its glands
and there is the chance that I could get sprayed.
As a matter of fact,
there's a chance all of you are gonna get sprayed.
Oh yeah, get ready, it's skunk time.
- [Male] Oh boy.
(upbeat music)
- [Coyote] Every once in awhile,
I have the chance to work with some pretty cute animals
like B-Rad the baby sloth
and Mr. Bean, the tamandua,
two animals that are being raised and rehabilitated
at a wildlife sanctuary called Kids Saving the Rainforest.
I imagine everyone out there watching
would love to get up close with a sloth or an anteater
but what about a skunk?
That's right,
I had the chance to go face to face
with nature's most notoriously stinky creature.
Get ready to meet Jungle the Skunk.
Okay, here we go, skunk coming in.
Oh, look at you.
Oh, oh.
Coming right for the camera
and kind of have a bit of a warning there guys.
- [Mark] Oh that tail's up.
Oh no, Mario turn the line of fire right now, buddy.
- Good morning.
Good morning Jungle, how are you?
This is Jungle and she is a striped hog-nosed skunk.
Oh boy.
I just feel like I need to put my hands up
when the butt is just like that.
- [Mark] Now, that's not gonna do you any good.
- Now, most of the time,
now what's very unique about Jungle is,
alright, yeah, careful there, careful.
- [Mark] Oh boy.
- You guys know,
it is incredibly difficult to present with mammals.
What I don't want to do is just grab onto Jungle
and try to hold her in place.
She needs to feel as if she is controlling this scene.
I love how they pounce.
Now, she is less than a year old
and the hog-nosed skunk
is actually one of the largest skunk species in the world.
This one specifically is the striped, hog-nosed skunk
which is native to this area here in Costa Rica.
They have such incredible personalities.
All members of the mustelid family are curious,
they are playful.
You can see she's just bounding around
having a great time this morning
and you never know what she's gonna do next.
(giggling)
Jungle, hi.
- [Camera Man] She's running
circles around you Mark. - She likes the cameras.
- [Mark] I know, I see that.
- There you are, there you are, hi,
okay, thanks, that was a nice kiss.
Kissed by a hog-nosed skunk.
So I know a lot of you have written in and you've said,
"Coyote, are you gonna enter the spray zone with a skunk?"
Guys, really, do you think I want to be sprayed by a skunk?
Not only will that be horrible for me and the crew,
I'll stink for days,
but you guys can't smell through your screens
and uh, actually funny story
is I was sprayed by a skunk when I was in fourth grade.
My dog went into the garage,
there was a skunk in there,
the skunk sprayed,
I got it all over me
and I had to stay out of school for several days
because I smelled so bad.
The good news about Jungle here
is that she's very calm being around people
and there's not a great chance that we're gonna get sprayed
but-- - But there is a chance.
- Well, yeah, you're right, there is,
if we agitate her
but as you can see,
she's very interested in playing right now.
Come here, let me see,
oh good morning, good morning.
You know what
might be interesting? - She's so playful.
- Skunks actually, believe it or not, love eggs.
Do we want to try maybe if i break an egg
and see if she'll lap it up out of my hands?
Look what Coyote's got.
- [Camera Man] Think you have the good stuff.
- Okay, now look, at this,
look at the stripes down the center of her back.
Most species of hog-nosed skunks have a solid white line
but the striped hog-nosed has a dual set
and you'll notice how,
look at, there's hardly any fur on her tail.
Now, she did also have a skin condition
when she came here to the sanctuary,
her tail was completely bald
but the good news is she is healthy now
and you can see that the fur is starting to grow back.
Oop, don't want to touch the tail too much.
And eventually, it will be this elegant plume
of white, bristly fur.
Now, alright, I'm gonna do something a little bit dangerous,
Mark, come over here.
That right there, that's the spray zone.
Now the way that a skunk's spray works
is they have two glands on either side of the butt.
Now, if a predator comes into the environment
and the skunk is alarmed,
they will emit just a little bit of musk
to give off a smell
which is basically a warning that says,
"Mess with me and you're gonna get the full dose."
If the skunk is agitated to that point,
what it will do is project two streams of musk
out at an attacker.
They can shoot it up to 10 feet
and their aim is extremely accurate.
So something like a bear or wolf,
if it comes in, tries to make a meal of skunk,
gonna be a really bad day.
Did you eat all your egg?
You're not gonna spray me in the face, are you?
This is a point blank range right here.
Give her a little butt scratch.
- [Mark] Did you ever think you'd be this close to a skunk,
especially that close to the danger zone?
- I don't think anybody ever thought
that I would be this close to a skunk's backside,
especially one that still has its musk glands.
Now, skunk's are opportunistic feeders
so pretty much anything they come across
out there in the wild is fair game
but they specialize in foraging
which means that they search around in the leaf litter,
digging with their claws for grubs or little worms,
they will eat berries,
they eat roots.
These creatures just will feast on anything they can find
and right now Jungle is eating some fresh chicken eggs.
Oh, that's good, huh buddy?
Look at the front claws there.
Looks just like the foot of,
let me see if I can hold it up,
look at that,
just like the paw of a badger,
razor sharp claws,
that is cool.
- [Mark] Easy, Mario.
- [Coyote] Uh oh.
- [Mark] Easy, Mario.
- Little risky.
You'll notice how the skunk
is just able to move underneath all of these logs,
she's got bunch of dirt up on her back now.
The really course fur allows her to stay warm
if it every gets cold out,
obviously skunks here in the rain forest
don't ever get that cold
but the fur is incredibly dense
and there are these bristly guard hairs
and then underneath,
just like all the other members of the mustelid family,
there's very soft, downy-like hair.
I feel pretty comfortable with Jungle at this point
and I think she would really have to be upset with us
to actually spray.
If I don't move,
oh, she's digging at my boot,
oh, oh, oh, she's on my head,
oh, huh, well that was a first,
getting completely walked over by a skunk.
Going for a morning run.
Whew, I gotta work on my cardio,
okay, let's go this way,
let's go, come on,
uh oh, she's gaining, she's gaining,
I'm getting chased by a mustelid.
Ah, it's gonna get me.
She's gonna get me.
Here she comes.
Oh, good lap, good lap.
Alright, let's go again, here we go, ready?
Let's see, let's see,
there you are,
oh, you're so pouncy.
Whew, I think I need more exercise,
I'm getting winded already.
Oh, good job, okay, come on,
come on, you got this.
One very important aspect of Jungle's day
is that she gets plenty of exercise.
So right now
getting her out here in this natural environment
just getting her to run back and forth
is very important for her rehabilitation.
Ah, this is exhausting.
I definitely need to work on my cardio.
This skunk is running laps around me.
Alright, Jungle, I'm ready here we go, come on.
Oop, she's making a pee,
making a pee, okay,
oh, and a poop.
Now, even skunks poop as you'll notice she's
morning business,
I guess we ran it right out of you, didn't we?
Whoa my goodness,
that is a yeah,
Jungle that's a serious number two right there.
Okay, well, little exercise, little bathroom break
and I think it is back off to the races.
Okay, come on, let's go.
Oh now she's quicker on her feet.
(deep breathing)
What a morning hanging out, getting exercise
with a baby hog-nosed skunk.
Thanks, Jungle.
The good news is that in just a couple months
Jungle is going to be released back out into the wild.
Just another incredible success story
here at Kids Saving the Rainforest.
I'm Coyote Peterson.
Be brave, stay wild,
we'll see you on the next adventure.
Alright, I'm ready, let's go.
If you thought paling around with a skunk looked like fun,
make sure to go back and watch the time I got up close
with one of its most elusive relatives,
the Alaskan mink.
And don't forget, subscribe,
so you can join me and the crew
on this season of Breaking Trail.
Look at that,
I put a camera in my hand and she comes over to hang out.
Oop, there you go, okay, I see you.
Whew, that's the danger zone right there.
I'm paying attention to the camera
and all of a sudden I've got a skunk butt right in my face.