Obese skunk put on vegetarian diet to battle bacon addiction
A pet skunk in the U.K. weighs double his ideal weight after years of enjoying an unhealthy diet of bacon sandwiches.
By Stephanie RogersWed, Sep 30 2009 at 10:36 AM EST
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Photo: Mr. Bumble the skunk loves his bacon sandwiches, but his new owners have put him on a vegetarian diet to help shed the extra weight they’ve added to his frame.
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His new healthy diet, along with a daily exercise regimen, should help him shed the extra 7 pounds that have made his naturally sleek body so rotund. Skunks’ natural diet in the wild is made up of insects, mice, greenery and dead animals.
Skunks have become popular as household pets in the U.K., but abandonment rates are up as a new law prevents the removal of their scent glands. Tropiquaria park owner Chris Noisier says that they’re not sure whether Mr. Bumble has been de-scented.
"We're now working on dieting him down to what he should be. Clearly bacon butties are not a normal part of a skunk's diet in the wild,” Noisier told the BBC.
"We're putting him on the vegetarian option at the moment. It's very much like a human weight watching issue. He is getting to meet lots of new people so there's lots going on in his life and I suspect it's making up for the lack of his old favorite food."
Related on MNN: View all of our animal stories.
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10/05/2011 01:19 AM
Just putin it out there, that skunk is BOSS! dude, if i ever get a skunk i'm feeding him only bacon and peanut butter. he may die at 2 but that's a risk i'm willing to take
Guest
10/17/2009 07:41 AM
How about the fact that there are people ignorant (and when I say ignorant I mean to say DUMB) enough to treat an animal like that! Isn't that what is most shocking here? People can be so foolish.
Guest
10/10/2009 16:52 PM
porky pig, look out.
this skunk has GOT your number!!!!!
O_O
XD
Guest
10/10/2009 16:50 PM
well...
all i have to say is:
....
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!! XD
i'm surprised that poor animal didn't keel over from a heart attack!
goraxthegreat
10/01/2009 22:54 PM
A law preventing the removal of scent glands? WTF? What's next, a law that prevents us from spaying or neutering our pets?
I don't see how this is a big deal. There are many households that include cats and dogs that are ridiculously overweight. A Google search for "fat cats" will make this skunk look tiny. Not to mention all the fat people...
Grey Garvin
10/01/2009 18:03 PM
it's Pepe le Huge!
Anonymous
09/30/2009 15:01 PM
It seems an injustice when many people in the world will die today without the opportunity to ever experience proper nutrition...this rodent enjoys a surplus of smoked pork products.
Anonymous
10/02/2009 21:39 PM
Um, just for the sake of zoological correctness, skunks are members of the weasel family. Other than that, TOTAL agreement with you. Actually, other members of the weasel family also have scent glands, too; just not as developed as the skunk's.
Phil Signet
09/30/2009 13:00 PM
As if being a skunk wasn't hard enough already.
