Evolutionary biologist Jerry Dragoo will be featured in part of an upcoming PBS Nature documentary titled “Is that Skunk?” The show will broadcast on Sunday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. on KNME Ch. 5. The show will cover a variety of skunk-related segments including an introduction to skunks, tell us your skunk tales, do skunks make good pets, Mephitidae – this family stinks and will also highlight additional web and print resources.
Additionally, the show will repeat Thursday, Jan. 29 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 1 at 11 a.m.
People discover and or encounter skunks nearly everywhere. They can be found in the evening digging through our garbage, hiding under our houses, or walking through our yards, streets and parks. Skunks seem perfectly adapted to life around us. But we are less comfortable around them, for fear of their potent spray.
As we expand our urban areas, many skunks find themselves increasingly unwelcome neighbors. It seems everyone has their own skunk story. But what do we really know about these infamous black and white creatures?
Dragoo is an evolutionary biologist who runs one of the few sanctuaries for skunks. His segment will tell what life is like for Dragoo and his friends at the sanctuary. Other segments include a California town overrun with skunks and how they deal with their furry problem, a researcher on the sandy shores of Martha’s Vineyard who stalks her striped specimens at night, and a woman in Ohio who runs a shelter and adoption agency for abandoned pet skunks.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
Posted by scarr at January 22, 2009 04:29 PM