Do skunks swim?

Skunks are quite industrious little animals. They can use their front paws to dig some pretty amazing holes and then be able to get into your garden or under your fence and onto your property. This is a very common thing to see and is why they can be quite a nuisance animal. They can easily destroy your garden and make your yard an unsafe place for you, your family and your pets.



Sadly, the trouble that they can cause is not limited to digging and making messes. If you have a pool or live near a creek you should be aware that a skunk can make its way across your pool. In fact, these animals can swim quite well.

It is true that they do not like to be in water, but they are not unable to swim. In this way they are very much like a cat or dog. In fact, they swim quite similarly to both. They paddle their way to wherever they are looking to get to, and this can go on for quite some period of time.

A skunk has been known to swim for quite a distance. This can include up to several hundred feet, which is quite a distance for such a small animal that does not regularly swim. The front paws paddle to help keep its head above the water as the hind feet kick to propel it forward. If you saw how a dog swims you would see great similarities between the two mammals.

While a skunk can swim, this does not mean that it wants to. In fact, they are very much like cats in their aversion to water. They swim primarily as a necessity. This occurs when they are attempting to get away from a predator or when they are trapped and have no other means to get from one place to the other.

They will also swim if they are hungry and find that their next meal could be in a river or a pond. One of the common reasons why a skunk enters onto people’s property is when they have a pond where they have fish. To the skunk this is like a big soup that all they have to do is get into the pond and get their meal. They will catch and eat just about any fish, and getting into the water is not a big deal to them if it means food.

If you are a person who owns a pool you should not be surprised to find a skunk in it. this is most often the case when people have a tarp over the pool. The skunk steps on it thinking it is normal land and into the water it goes. Read more: Skunk Control, how to kill skunks.