Here is a critter you smell far more often than you actually see. I have, in fact, only photographed a skunk a handful of times over the years and finally got another chance this past weekend.

It was wandering a field, looking for a meal for a good half hour. The majority of the time it was either too far away or well-hidden in the grasses but at one point I got a halfway decent look at it.

The monochromatic critter was starting to move away but stopped briefly and turned its head, giving me a coy little glance. Fun to see, especially since I was a safe distance and out of range of a more smelly encounter. 😉

Well, not really, as this skunk never did actually spray anything – thankfully! It was however a ton of fun happening across it as I have only ever seen a handful of them and have never gotten any decent captures of one.

This particular one was initially about 40 yards out in a field this past weekend and, much to my surprise and delight, kept coming closer. Eventually, it ended up only about 20 feet away from me where this picture was taken.

While they have an excellent sense of smell and hearing, they have poor eyesight so it could be it didn’t even realize I was there. The grass was very wet with heavy dew so it was quite drenched and not looking as fluffy as they normally do but I am happy to have been there to get the pics.

Taken at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge near Denver, Colorado.