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Are there skunks in Norway?

Where skunks live and which smelly relative Norway does have.

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Short answer

No wild skunks live in Norway, as Store norske leksikon says the skunk family is found in North, Central and South America. Norway does have the European polecat, which also releases a foul-smelling secretion from two anal glands when it feels threatened. It lives in south-eastern Norway and is listed as vulnerable.

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Why

  1. Store norske leksikon places the skunks in their own family, Mephitidae, with three genera and nine species in all.
  2. Skunks defend themselves by spraying a foul-smelling fluid from their anal glands in a fine jet at an attacker.
  3. The European polecat lives in moist deciduous and mixed woodland in south-eastern Norway and is listed as vulnerable on the Norwegian Red List.

Details

Skunks weigh 0.5–2 kg. The ferret is a tame form of the polecat, counted as its own subspecies and called frett in Norwegian. A grown male polecat typically weighs about 850 grams, and a female about half that.

Tip

When searching Norwegian sources, use stinkdyr for skunks and ilder for the European polecat.

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Sources

Information checked on 20 October 2026.

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