'Naked' Skunk

'Naked' skunk found under Oil City porch
By SHEILA BOUGHNER-BLAIR

The critter, estimated to be a year old, is missing its hair, but shows no signs of lesions or disease.

When local wildlife removal expert Eric McCool peered into a trap Wednesday, he encountered a strange sight - a hairless skunk.

McCool, who has provided wildlife removal services for 20 years from Ohio to Florida, said he has "never seen anything like it."

The unusual specimen was living under a home on North Street in Oil City.

On first glance, the creature enclosed in a small box trap resembled a ferret. Its bare skin contained numerous folds, and the telltale black and white markings (that would have enlivened its coiffure if it had one) were faintly visible on the skin, like a faded tattoo.