Spring Break
The Daily OrangeCollege lifestyle attracts pungent visitors to campus
By Taylor Engler
Posted: 5/1/06, 10:08 PM EST Section: Pulp
There's something stinking up the Syracuse University campus, and its not coming from the fraternity house bathrooms.
According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the skunk is a member of the weasel family that stands out from other woodland creatures because of the potent odor it releases when a potential attacker startles it. Since skunk mating season occurred in February and March, these intruders have been spotted by students across campus.
"All the (wildlife removal) operators in the city alone, together, we take the better part of 1,000 skunks a year from the area," said Al Burns, wildlife control operator and owner of Animal Control Services of Central New York.
With Disney movies like "Bambi" as an example, one would think that the skunks would stick to the woody forests of rural areas, but in reality the perfect habitat for a skunk is a residential area with both open lawns and shady trees.
"We have a fenced-in backyard, and they still get in," said Dan Sinicrope, a junior civil engineering major. "We've had like three in two years. I have smelled them more than those three times though."
Skunks are also attracted to areas where students reside because of the availability of food left in garbage cans and littered onto the streets. Skunks can easily tear through the plastic bags many students toss outside on the street, reveling in the goodies left over from parties and late-night munchies.
"SU kids invite the skunks," Burns said. "They are well fed on pepperoni pizza and chicken wings. In fact, that's what I use to catch them now."
Especially now that the baby skunks are being born, adult skunks are looking for areas with a lot of food to provide sustenance for their young. With abundant food and few natural predators, the skunks not only find a safe haven to raise their babies in the SU campus, but continue to breed in the area.
"The skunks just overpopulate," Burns said. "They have up to 10 or 11 babies a year, and it doesn't take long at that rate to repopulate."
According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the skunk is a member of the weasel family that stands out from other woodland creatures because of the potent odor it releases when a potential attacker startles it. Since skunk mating season occurred in February and March, these intruders have been spotted by students across campus.
"All the (wildlife removal) operators in the city alone, together, we take the better part of 1,000 skunks a year from the area," said Al Burns, wildlife control operator and owner of Animal Control Services of Central New York.
With Disney movies like "Bambi" as an example, one would think that the skunks would stick to the woody forests of rural areas, but in reality the perfect habitat for a skunk is a residential area with both open lawns and shady trees.
"We have a fenced-in backyard, and they still get in," said Dan Sinicrope, a junior civil engineering major. "We've had like three in two years. I have smelled them more than those three times though."
Skunks are also attracted to areas where students reside because of the availability of food left in garbage cans and littered onto the streets. Skunks can easily tear through the plastic bags many students toss outside on the street, reveling in the goodies left over from parties and late-night munchies.
"SU kids invite the skunks," Burns said. "They are well fed on pepperoni pizza and chicken wings. In fact, that's what I use to catch them now."
Especially now that the baby skunks are being born, adult skunks are looking for areas with a lot of food to provide sustenance for their young. With abundant food and few natural predators, the skunks not only find a safe haven to raise their babies in the SU campus, but continue to breed in the area.
"The skunks just overpopulate," Burns said. "They have up to 10 or 11 babies a year, and it doesn't take long at that rate to repopulate."
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