I have a pet skunk.
Skunk
Skunks are North and South American mammals in the family Mephitidae. While related to polecats and other members of the weasel family, skunks have as their closest Old World relatives the stink badgers. The animals are known for their ability to spray a liquid with a strong, unpleasant smell. Different species of skunk vary in appearance from black-and-white to brown, cream or ginger colored, but all have warning coloration.
Etymology.
The word "skunk" is an Americanism from the 1630s, the
effort. There are, however, relocation options if a pet skunk does not work out, including skunk shelters.
Rabies.
Skunks and other mammals can contract rabies by being bitten by an infected animal or eating the carcass of an infected animal. Although it is quite rare for domesticated skunks to get rabies, there have been many unfortunate cases in which an uninfected pet skunk bit a person, and then was euthanized by animal control personnel so that its brain cells could be tested for rabies.
In the United