Editing Skunk (section)

==  Relations with humans ==
===Bites===
It is rare for a healthy skunk to bite a human, though a tame skunk whose scent glands have been removed (usually on behalf of those who will keep it as a pet) may defend itself by biting. There are, however, a few recorded incidents of skunks biting humans.  Skunk bites in humans can result in infection with the [[rabies]] virus. The [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention|Centers for Disease Control (CDC)]] recorded 1,494 cases of rabies in skunks in the United States for the year 2006—about 21.5% of reported cases in all species.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=[[Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association]] | volume=231| issue=4 | year=2007 | title=Rabies surveillance in the United States during 2006 |author1=Blanton J.D. |author2=Hanlon C.A. |author3=Rupprecht C.E. | pages=540–56| doi=10.2460/javma.231.4.540 |pmid=17696853 | pmc=<!--none--> }}; Updated in {{cite journal |pmc=5120391 | pmid=25356711 | doi=10.2460/javma.245.10.1111 | volume=245 | issue=10 | title=Rabies surveillance in the United States during 2013 | year=2014 | journal=J Am Vet Med Assoc | pages=1111–23 |vauthors=Dyer JL, Yager P, Orciari L, Greenberg L, Wallace R, Hanlon CA, Blanton JD }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/docs/rabies_surveillance_us_2006.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921030119/https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/docs/rabies_surveillance_us_2006.pdf|archive-date=21 September 2008| 
title=Rabies Surveillance US 2006 | 
publisher=[[U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]]}}</ref> 
Skunks in fact are less prominent than [[raccoon]]s as [[Vector (epidemiology)|vectors]] of rabies. (However, this varies regionally in the United States, with [[raccoon]]s dominating along the [[Atlantic Northeast|Atlantic coast]] and the eastern [[Gulf Coast of the United States|Gulf of Mexico]], while skunks instead predominate throughout the [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]], including the western Gulf, and in California.)

===As pets===
[[File:Striped skunk Freddy.jpg|thumb|A tame striped skunk]]
''Mephitis mephitis'', the striped skunk, is the most social skunk and the one most commonly kept as a pet. In the US, skunks can legally be kept as pets in 17 states.<ref name="PBS">{{cite web |title=Is That Skunk? {{!}} Do Skunks Make Good Pets? |url=http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/is-that-skunk-do-skunks-make-good-pets/4569/ |work=PBS |date=20 November 2008}}</ref> When a skunk is kept as a pet, its scent glands are often surgically removed.<ref name="PBS" />
 [[File: Pet Albino Skunk on a harness.jpg|thumb|A pet albino skunk on a walk]]
In the UK, skunks can be kept as pets,<ref>{{cite news |author=<!-- no byline --> |title=A stink in the tale: Why Britain is swooning over the pet with a pong |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/property/house-and-home/pets/features/a-stink-in-the-tale-why-britain-is-swooning-over-the-pet-with-a-pong-2273749.html |work=The Independent |date=23 April 2011}}</ref> but the [[Animal Welfare Act 2006]] made it illegal to remove their scent glands.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts2006/pdf/ukpga_20060045_en.pdf |access-date=5 December 2009 |title=Animal Welfare Act 2006}}</ref>