Skunks might be best known for their ability to spray a liquid with a strong, unpleasant scent from their anal glands. 

They have moderately elongated bodies with relatively short, well-muscled legs and long front claws for digging.

Although the most common fur colour is black and white, some skunks are brown or grey and a few are cream or even  ginger coloured. All skunks are striped, even from birth. They may have a single thick stripe across the back and tail, two thinner stripes, or a series of white spots and broken stripes (in the case of the spotted skunk).

Although they have excellent senses of smell and hearing, they have poor vision, being unable to see objects more than about 3m away.  This being said, skunks are bright and spritely and a joy to be around.

As a verb and in common parlance, “skunk” is used to describe the act of overwhelmingly defeating an opponent in a game or competition. Skunk is also used to refer to certain strains of marijuana whose smell has been compared to that of a skunk’s spray.  This fact may, or may not help your filming brief!

Skunk species vary in size from about 40-94cm long and weigh from about 0.50kg (spotted skunks) to 8.2kg (hog-nosed skunks).

Aside from being absolutely adorable in character, their appearance is complete cuteness.  They are lovable animals and domesticated skunks form strong bonds with their families.  For this reason, it’s possible for models and actors of all ages to work with one of our fully trained and sociable skunks in the studio or out on location.

The cartoon character, Pepe Le Pew, with his stinky odour and amorous advances doesn’t do the real being justice.  Skunks are a pleasure to work with.  They look fabulous in fashion shoots, and TV comedy briefs can also benefit from this funky furry creature, but we’re sure you creative people can come up with more interesting content than us!  Definitely consider working with skunks on your next project; you won’t be disappointed.

We supply professional animal location handlers around the world to ensure you get all the shots you require and, as overseers to ensure the wild is not disturbed, the crew will always be safe and no welfare regulations are ever breached.

It isn’t just the animals that are well trained, our team including our handlers are also highly experienced and fully qualified experts in the field. 

Your handler will take full control of any animals on set and ensure the entire shoot runs properly. They will also fully manage the welfare of all the animals both on and off set; the safety and welfare of the animals is their prime concern.  All of our handling is strictly force-free and only positive, reward based practices are deployed. This way you can have total confidence that by booking With The Animal Talent everything is taken care of legally, professionally and ethically.

The Performing Animals Licence is no longer relevant (it was scrapped in 2019) and has been replaced with the Animal Activity Licence, which we hold.

Flower is covered by a £10 million Public Liability Insurance policy. 

Skunks are not true hibernators in the winter, but do den up for extended periods of time. However, they remain generally inactive and feed rarely, going through a dormant stage.  This makes filming requirements harder to achieve in the colder months of the year.  Filming and photoshoots with this animal should be completed in warmer months.

If any species of animal listed under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act are required, special measures will need to be put into place for the shoot. Precisely what is appropriate will vary species to species, but may include sectioned off areas where only trained handlers are allowed. In the event of large and dangerous carnivores, a specifically built green screen studio can also be supplied.