The skunks here like to hang out in a burrow down by the water bowl. And, burrows being what they are – holes in the ground – they often emerge a little dusty. So the first thing they do when they come out is give themselves a proper, full-body shake.
Dan says in his narration that he doesn’t think the inside of the burrow could be all that grubby, but I interviewed some skunks and they told me that it’s floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall dirt down there, and then they asked to borrow the vacuum cleaner. “Of course it’s dirty! Do you think we’d be going half-crazy shaking ourselves off if we didn’t need to?”
And truly, they shake themselves so hard sometimes that we’re surprised they don’t rattle their little heads and give themselves brain damage. (Or perhaps they do, and we just don’t notice?)
Anyway, we’re sure Taylor Swift would be impressed. These skunks really know how to “shake it off, shake it off”.
A note from TBW: This short was edited by Martin Bludworth, our new video production assistant and Premier Pro expert. Martin joined our team earlier this year and is working with Dan to create videos for publication. He’s doing a great job and we’ll be publishing more of his work very soon. #texasbackyardwildlife