JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas –
Sightings of skunks at Joint Base San Antonio locations are likely to increase with the coming of spring, with installation residents and personnel being urged to take precautions if they should encounter the foul smelling animals.
With breeding season underway, skunks will be roaming the grounds of JBSA installations looking for a mate and digging dens underneath buildings and houses on base.
Miguel Amador, pest management supervisor with the 502nd Civil Engineering Squadron at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, said there is one thing base residents and personnel should adhere to if they see or smell the foul odor of a skunk.
"Avoid the skunks," he said. "Just leave them alone."
Amador said JBSA location residents and their pets should stay as far away from skunks as possible, since the animals can shoot a foul spray if they feel threatened or startled. The odor from the spray can go at least 10 feet in the air, getting on people and pets.
Also, he said, skunks can be carriers of the rabies disease. The Texas Department of Health says that in recent years skunks made up 60 percent of reported animal rabies cases in Texas.
Instead, Amador said, JBSA members who see or suspect a skunk is on base should let pest management employees take care of it. To report a skunk sighting at JBSA-Randolph, JBSA-Fort Sam Houston and JBSA-Lackland, call the 502nd CES customer service line at 671-5555.
Allison Cook, Randolph Family Housing community director, said JBSA-Randolph residents can report skunk sightings at their housing unit to the Family Housing office at 659-9061.
Amador said each year the pest management section responds to 40 - 45 calls of reported sightings of skunks at JBSA-Randolph.
When a skunk sighting is reported, Amador said pest management technicians will set up traps to catch the animal. If a skunk is caught in a trap, the animal is humanely taken and relocated.
According to the website Habitat Tracker, skunks are nocturnal animals who go out from dusk to dawn looking for food, while sleeping in their dens during the daytime. During the summer months, in May and June, when the babies are born, Amador said the mother skunks will be out in the daytime searching for food for their babies.
Amador said the areas of JBSA-Randolph where the most calls for skunk sightings or possible presence of skunks comes from is building 100 and the south flight line. But, he said there are reports of skunks throughout JBSA-Randolph.
Skunks go to locations with lights, Amador said, which both building 100 and the south flight line have. He said lights attract bugs that skunks like to feed on.
"Skunks can go back and forth at will between the south side flight line and the main base looking for a meal," Amador said.
Amador said JBSA-Randolph residents and employees should check to make sure trash is put in dumpsters and receptacles, and not left out.
"Anytime something is spilled overnight anywhere, it will attract wildlife," he said. "It is imperative that sanitation be practiced 100 percent of the time to reduce the occurrences of exposure to the animals in the area.
"If there is something on the ground, skunks will not hesitate to explore their options for a free meal," Amador explained.
Also, residents should not allow their pets to run freely. Keep pets on a leash and in fenced areas of homes. Pet owners should take these measures to reduce the risk of pets encountering a skunk, which could expose a pet to rabies, a bite or a spraying.
If a pet is sprayed, Amador suggests pet owners visit a veterinarian, a pet supply store or the humane society website at http://www.humanesociety.org for resources on removing skunk odor.