The striped skunk, Mephitis mephitis, is a common resident of backyards across North America. When easily accessible, this animal will readily consume cultivated produce, including soft fruits like watermelon. Skunks will eat watermelon, especially if the fruit has fallen, ripened past its peak, or is otherwise readily breached. This feeding behavior is a result of the animal’s highly adaptable omnivorous diet.
Understanding Skunks as Opportunistic Eaters
Skunks are opportunistic omnivores, meaning they will consume almost any food source that is safe and available in their environment. A ripe watermelon is attractive because it offers high moisture content and soft, pulpy flesh that is easy to access. These traits make it a palatable and easily digestible source of calories and hydration, particularly when garden produce is abundant. Their strong sense of smell, which compensates for their relatively poor eyesight, guides them to these food sources. The accessibility of a ripe, thin-skinned fruit on the ground is a significant draw for a nocturnal forager.
The Skunk’s Natural Diet
Despite their willingness to consume garden produce, the skunk’s natural diet is heavily reliant on animal matter, primarily insects and other invertebrates. During warmer months, their diet consists largely of protein-rich food like grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, and insect larvae, such as grubs. Skunks often dig small, conical holes in lawns while searching for these subterranean larvae. Protein sources also include small rodents, bird eggs, earthworms, and carrion. Plant material is consumed seasonally in much smaller quantities, typically consisting of nuts, roots, grasses, and wild berries. This consumption of plant matter is usually secondary to their pursuit of insect prey.
Preventing Skunks from Eating Garden Produce
The most effective method for deterring skunks is to remove or secure attractive food sources and create physical barriers. Gardeners should promptly harvest ripe produce and immediately remove any fallen fruit, including overripe melons, from the ground. Securing all outdoor trash cans with tight-fitting, animal-proof lids is also necessary, as garbage is a significant attractant for any opportunistic feeder.
Skunks are poor climbers, making low fencing a practical option, but the barrier must be secured beneath the soil to prevent digging. A fence constructed of wire mesh or hardware cloth should be at least two to four inches deep and bent outward at a 90-degree angle to discourage burrowing. As nocturnal animals, skunks are easily startled by sudden changes in their environment. Installing motion-activated lights or motion-triggered sprinklers can serve as an immediate and non-lethal deterrent.