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Why skunks are out on the first mild nights of late winter

February to March

Striped skunks are not true hibernators. They sleep out the cold under sheds and porches and come out whenever a night is mild enough, which MassWildlife puts at about 30 degrees, and February and March happen to be their breeding season, so one mild night puts a lot of animals on the move at once.

Why this time of year

Breeding runs February through March in Massachusetts, but what decides any given night is the temperature rather than the date. A cold February week produces nothing and a thaw produces skunks.

How to notice it

  1. Pick a February or March night holding above freezing, step out the back door after dark, and just breathe. The smell usually arrives before anything else does.
  2. In the morning look for the feeding sign: a single small hole punched into lawn, leaf litter or sand where a skunk dug for grubs. One hole at a time, not a torn-up patch.
  3. If you smell skunk out in the woods and there is no skunk anywhere, look up into the pines. Great horned owls are a main predator of skunks and a roosting owl can carry the smell.
  4. Watch roadsides and driveway edges at dusk for one crossing at a slow waddle.

Try this with kids: Skunk smell in the woods with no skunk in sight often means a great horned owl overhead. Can you work out which tree it is in?

torpor is a deep sleep an animal can wake up out of, unlike true hibernation

Safety

  • Never approach a skunk. Speak softly, back away slowly, and leave it a clear path out.
  • A skunk's last warning is turning its back end towards the thing bothering it and exposing the bare skin around its glands. If you see that, you are already too close.
  • MassWildlife tells dog owners to beware on unusually warm winter nights. Put an outside light on and check the yard before letting a dog out after dark in February and March.

Sources

  • salemma.govMassWildlife, Living With Wildlife: The Skunk in Massachusetts, June 2006, town-hosted copy carrying the MassWildlife district contacts. Breeding season typically February through March; skunks are not true hibernators; when nighttime temperatures are above 30F skunks become active, and when temperatures stay below freezing they sleep to conserve energy; feeding sign appears as a single small hole in a lawn, leaf litter or sand; the last warning before spraying is turning the hind end towards the threat and exposing the glands; and the advice to check the yard before letting a dog out on warm winter nights.
  • massaudubon.orgMass Audubon: torpor rather than hibernation, a den period roughly November to March, emergence on warm winter nights above 30F, denning under porches and decks, and that you often smell a skunk before you see one.
  • massaudubon.orgMass Audubon February Outdoor Almanac, February 14 entry: skunks are not true hibernators, they emerge to mate about this time of year, and a skunk smell overhead in the woods most likely means a great horned owl. The PDF text carries no year; the filename implies 2025 and the year is not confirmed.
  • extension.unh.eduUNH Extension: striped skunks mate mid-February through mid-March, do not fully hibernate, and males are especially mobile searching for females.
  • extension.psu.eduPenn State Extension: adult skunks breed late February through late March, are dormant about a month during the coldest part of winter, are nocturnal, and a male may travel 4 to 5 miles each night in the breeding season. Pennsylvania, so the distance figure is not carried into the card.
  • icwdm.orgInternet Center for Wildlife Damage Management: females that do not wish to mate with a particular male typically spray them.

Checked against these sources on September 4, 2026.

In the guide for February, March

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