Los-Angeles-Shooter Loc: Los Angeles

I am able to set up a camera and strobe, either remotely triggered or triggered by the critter. Question: Will the camera clicking or the strobe cause the skunk to be startled and spray?

JD750 Loc: SoCal

Probably not.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

The only thing I know about skunks is ti keep away from them, but I would imagine they would probably be startled, though they might be so disoriented by the strobe they would just run.

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

Interesting thing about skunks, their scent gland is a last resort defense mechanism. Skunks don't like the smell either and when they are forced to spray, the first thing they want to do is get away from there. To answer your question, no, the odds of the skunk spraying as a result of being startled by a flash are very slim to none.

Rich1939 Loc: Pike County Penna.

For what it's worth; When I lived in Arizona, come sundown I would go out on my deck with a cigar and a night cap. Most evenings a skunk would come by and I would just sit there and watch it watch me. After a few of these encounters I starting saying hell-o and talking to it. the skunk would look at me and just keep going about its business. Now that I'm living in PA it's common to go through the same scenario with the deer and foxes.
The wild animals around us are far more aware of us than we are of them. As long as you don't do something to startle them you should be fine. As far as the camera tripping, the critters might take off the first time or two but, once they know it isn't a danger to them they will normally accept it as a new part of their life. As RMorrison said the spray is a skunks last resort. I once watched an animal control officer capture a skunk in an office complex by walking up to it easily with a cardboard box. He placed the box on the ground next to it with the opening facing the skunk. The skunk just went into the box, they are nocturnal and prefer the dark, the officer closed it and took box and skunk away. No fuss, no muss, no stink

Cany143 Loc: SE Utah

I have some passing familiarity with skunks, though not necessarily by choice. From time to time, one or more of the little critters decide they'd like to take up residence in the crawl space beneath my home or under a deck I built a few years ago, and cute as they are, I'd rather they chose a different location. Might you find yourself in a similar situation? or do you just want to photograph skunks?

A Google search will net you --as it did me-- a variety of approaches to skunklessness. Most of those deal with how to rid yourself of them. Traps, moth balls, motion sensing lights and loud continuous sound are chief among the remedies. I don't recall any approaches that mentioned cameras, but I may have merely glossed over any of those since capturing them (in the photographic sense) was not my goal. Regardless, here's what I learned that may help you:

A skunk will not be bothered in the least by any sound a camera can make. A strobe, on the other hand, will startle a skunk, but not sensing a 'target,' they won't spray. In effect, the light will simply scare it off.

Personally, I've live trapped the ones I had. (Likewise, a pair of juvenile raccoons who'd similarly taken up residence, and which I thought were skunks until I actually trapped and saw them.) Photographically, my experience with skunks is nil, but if that were otherwise, I'd use --and suggest you use-- the longest lens you have.

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

Years ago my mother's family and her sisters family use to rent seasonal cabins on the south east shore of lake wallenpaupack which I believe is in Pike county, the north shore is in Wayne county. We put out peanuts for the Chipmunks and the peanuts also attracted the skunks. We use to have a big campfire usually 3 nights a week and everyone would gather around the fire in their folding chairs. Being nocturnal, the skunks would come to check out what was going on. You could see the light reflect in their eyes. We began to put out peanuts for the skunks during our campfires and eventually the skunks would come to within a few feet to get peanuts. These were wild animals so we never tried to hand feed them. In all the years we went up to the Poconos and interacted with wildlife, we never once had a problem with skunks spraying.

Shellback Loc: North of Cheyenne Bottoms Wetlands - Kansas

Skunks are actually prim and proper - and clean - lil critters - years ago, animal control informed me that a little used engine oil around the entrance and they will depart with no forwarding address and no return plans... have used this trick many times over the years with no failures to have them relocate

therwol Loc: USA

There used to be a skunk that shared our back yard. If I went out at night, I'd sometimes see it walking right past me without even checking me out. I realized that since I wasn't threatening it, nothing was likely to happen.

I saw the thing in my back yard one night and ran out with my camera and used the flash. It wasn't even bothered by that. It didn't run off. It just kept walking wherever it was going. You can see that. Of course, I wasn't about to run in front of it and blind it to take better pictures than the one I got.

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Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

When I lived in Yonkers, NY I cared for feral cats, and the occasional skunk and raccoon which raided the cat food bowls.

Skunks and Raccoons never minded the speedlight flash.

Your skunks may be more skittish - these guys were "hood" skunks and very little fazed them.

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via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

I'd say no. Skunks are myopic and so they don't see far away. If you don't make a loud noise it's unlikely they will know you are there. You'll have to experiment with how they react to the light. A skunk does not spray unless they feel threatened so simply stay away from them. They are really quite harmless unless they have rabies or are ill, then all bets are off.

sxrich

i think most of the responses are accurate. But, here is a story of a skunk spraying. Never in my life have i experienced a stench such as this. I lived in southeastern Pennsylvania at the time, West Chester. I had some small woods behind the house with some bushes. My in-laws were visiting the next day from Pittsburgh. I bring out my yellow lab at midnight for his last walk. Unfortunately he finds the skunk in some bushes and gets sprayed right in the face. The weather was cool and people were sleeping with their windows open. The stench started waking people up and you could smell it a few blocks away. So, at 1am, I'm in the backyard with bottles of tomato juice washing my dog. I'm sure the dog provoked the skunk but getting up close and personal with a skunk I will never forget. I won't even test the odds regardless. Buy a picture!

sv3noKin51E

LA Shooter; depends how far the gear is, and it he's startled when it goes off. I'm always careful to use a wireless rig trigger from a distance, or if I'm upwind carrying; if the skunk is startled, worst case senario, you'll need plenty of tomato juice to bathe in. good luck.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

If you happen to get sprayed, it's best to ignore the folkloric remedy of bathing in tomato juice. Washing, bathing, using a mix of hydrogen peroxide, liquid dish detergent and baking soda. The baking soda will neutralize the acidic sulfur compounds and the peroxide will oxidize the thiols that are responsible for the odor in the skunk juice, and the detergent will dissolve any oils.

The folklore is a myth.

https://www.villageveterinary.com/de-skunking/

https://scienceline.org/2006/07/ask-cosier-skunk/#targetText=But%20contrary%20to%20folklore%2C%20bathing,(10%20parts%20per%20billion)

https://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/skunk-spray-tomato-juice1.htm

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Maybe - or maybe not. I doubt that flash photography is in the skunk's handbook. How do people react to a flash?