Host Gail Buhl welcomes Ruby Davis, the Wildlife Rehabilitation Director for Carolina Wildlife Conservation Center. There, she oversees the center’s rehabilitation, along with the training and mentoring of staff and volunteers.

This was an in-depth conversation, so we've divided it into two parts. In part 1, Gail and Ruby cover Ruby's origin story and how she came to enter a long and fulfilling career at the Carolina Wildlife Conservation Center. From there, the conversation covers some basic natural history of striped skunks, a common skunk species in North America. This episode details the striped skunk's eating habits, seasonal and mating behavior, types of nests they prefer, and times of day they're most active. 

Ruby also recounts some common reasons skunks are admitted to wildlife rehabilitation and how members of the public encounter them. 

Be sure to stay tuned for Part 2, in which we do a deep dive into the details of skunk rehabilitation!

Special thanks to Partners For Wildlife and The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine. Our executive producer and host is Gail Buhl. Our producer is Kirk Klocke.

To learn more about The Raptor Center, visit Homepage | The Raptor Center (umn.edu). For more on Partners for Wildlife, visit Partners for Wildlife Home | The Raptor Center (umn.edu).