An unwanted skunk named Squirt just joined the Florida Keys sheriff’s office menagerie
The Florida Keys sheriff’s office has a new member of the family. Meet Squirt the skunk.
Squirt, a rescue skunk, landed at the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Animal Farm this week. The skunk won’t have any official police duties, but will be part of the critter collection the sheriff’s office maintains and occasionally opens to the public.
Squirt joins other new arrivals at the sheriff’s petting zoo, including Jack the ostrich, Julien the lemur, Kinx the kinkajou and Lala the silver fox. The farm has more than 150 animals.
“His owner felt he was no longer able to spend as much time with him as he deserved, and was looking to rehome him,” the Animal Farm said in a Facebook post about Squirt the skunk.
An animal advocacy group picked up Squirt in Central Florida and brought the skunk to the Keys to start a new life.
Squirt won’t have what people dread the most: squirts that stink. The newly arrived skunk has been de-scented, according to the sheriff’s Animal Farm.
Reactions on social media to Squirt the skunk
What are people saying about Squirt the skunk coming to the Keys? Lots of nice things, and certainly not what they would say if they encountered a skunk on the street.
Here’s a sampling:
▪ Aww welcome Squirt!! You’ll be happy in your new home!
▪ Absolutely precious!
▪ Love his little face. Years ago, we had a little skunk and early in the morning we would see the skunk and our cat walking down the driveway. Never a skunk smell, not once.
About the Keys sheriff’s animal farm
▪ The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Children’s Animal Farm is on the grounds of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Stock Island Detention Center, 5501 College Rd. in Key West.
▪ The farm, which now has more than 150 animals, was started in 1994 with a scattering of ducks and chickens in an open area underneath the jail facility.
▪ The farm is open free for the public a couple of times a month.
▪ Monroe County inmates work on the farm., which has grown into one of the Keys’ most beloved but off-the-radar attractions.
▪ In 2019, an inmate with duties on the farm fed the jail’s pet iguana to Irwin the alligator at the petting zoo. Mojo the iguana lived at the animal farm for 13 years before his demise.
This story was originally published January 11, 2023 at 9:37 AM.
