I had a pet skunk many years ago. It was the best pet I ever had. We got her when she was about a week old and at 6 weeks had her descented. I learned a lot about skunks.
They are great for killing grubs, which are not good for the soil. I believe this is way they have rabies so bad. She was also great for killing mice - which I hate (Ever seen the movie "2004"?) and snakes.
If possible, a skunk would prefer to run from danger. Given the opportunity, they will warn before spraying by first stamping their front feet and hissing. Then, they'll swing the back end around and stamp again.
My pet was very smart and remembered things for years. When she was about 2 years old, she left our place for several days and came back. Soon, she was gone longer and longer. Then she stayed gone. About 18 months later, in the middle of the night my mom woke up to scratching at her ourside bedroom door. The dog didn't bark, so my mom opened the door and there was that skunk. She had gotten into the neighbor's trash pit and had a mayo jar stuck on her head. Mom pulled the jar off and played with her for awhile. They like to play like cats. Her favorite thing was to roll on her back while you tussled her stomach. You could almost see her laugh. Then the skunk wandered off. We sold our place a short time later and I've never seen her again.
Now, I'm not an animal rights freak and I won't hestiate to shoot a skunk acting strange, but I sure do have a special place in my heart for skunks. Not many people know that.