A major advantage that an owl has over a skunk is that it will catch mostly at night, which is when the skunk mostly switches off and lets its guard down. They have to a bit more silent and stealthy in this case, allowing the skunk no chance of protecting itself. They’re also very good at concealing themselves, although the larger owls can make quite a lot of noise before they catch their prey.īut with skunks, they have to pick a slightly different tactic. They’re constantly on the lookout for smaller mammals and rodents, using their strong eyesight in the dark to spot them from miles away. Although if they go for larger skunks, they might need to plan their attack more carefully in order not to trigger their defense mechanism. Normally, hawks will go for smaller skunks which are easier to kill with just a single blow. However, if they’re able to strike swiftly and quickly, the skunk will have no chance of releasing its smells, giving the hawk a good chance of catching it and killing it with a single blow. A skunk may grow to up to 19 inches in size, which is similar to a house cat, allowing the hawk to spot it from one mile away or even more.Ī hawk will naturally look for other types of prey first, such as rabbits or other mammals and rodents that won’t cause them such problems as skunks do. Of course, the smaller the prey, the closer they need to be to spot it, so it really depends on the size of the skunk. Similarly to eagles, hawks are perfectly capable of spotting their prey from miles away. An eagle will then either kill the skunk on the spot or carry it to another place until the skunk wears out and becomes an even easier prey to eat for the eagle.

Their near-perfect eyesight enables them to catch a skunk off-guard and surprise it, giving it no time to release its stinky spray. They’re able to see a skunk or a rabbit from up to three miles away, which is an impressive feat. In fact, they’re at the top, or near the top of the food chain, meaning they don’t have many natural predators themselves.

Because they’re not able to see the air up above them, they’re not able to release their fluids in time, especially if they get surprised.Īnd eagles are one of the best predators from the sky. EaglesĪs we’ve already mentioned, skunks are very vulnerable to attacks from the sky. These are some of the most common animals that are able to catch skunks.

Skunk predators