I just got an email from my state's game department. There's an article about the Eastern Spotted Skunk in it. Here is its range: Their eastern-most habitat in Virginia is in our western mountain ranges. This is the spotted skunk: And here it is in its unique handstand pose:
I think that all skunks make a similar stand when they are going to spray something. From what I have read, there is two things that a skunk needs to be able to do in order to release its spray. The first one, obviously, is to be able to gets its tail raised into the air, and the second is to be able to push with its front feet, which is what the cute little skunk in your picture is doing, @John Brunner . When I found the little skunk that was trapped inside of a trash can at a rest area, and i rescued it and took it home (and later released it), I was able to hold it in my arms like you would hold a cat, and I kept its tail curved down, so it could not spray me. It was really cute to watch when i fed it. It would curve its body into a U-shape because it wanted its head towards me to get the bite of food, and wanted its tail towards me in case it decided to spray me. It would dance back and forth on its little feet, but never tried to spray me.
I don't know the backstory to these two pet spotted skunks. One of the stated reason for the handstand was to make itself look larger to predators. They are also doing their "hoppy dance" that the game department's article mentioned seeing them do in the wild. I've heard of them stomping their feet when getting ready to spray. Thank goodness I've never witnessed it.