1 Your unscientific sampling is leading you astray.  Here in Tigard a few miles south of you, we have one of the largest skunk concentrations in the western United States.  The summer before last, one or more neighborhood dogs would encounter a skunk every few days.  On a walk with my dog two years ago, I was walking down the sidewalk, and a whole family of skunks, with an adult at the lead and tail, and a chain of about 6 babies, walked out between two cars about 30 feet in front of me.  I can just imagine the scene if I'd been a few seconds ahead on that walk, and they'd come into view just a few feet from me and the dog...

2 I can see why people would want (descented) skunks as pets. They really are very handsome animals. (Assuming they don't have personalities like wolverines or badgers, in which case they'd be terrible pets.)

3 Well, ferrets make decent pets, who are also relatives IIRC.

4 I visited someone once who had a ferret as a pet, and what I mostly remember was that it stunk. It didn't really seem like that nice an animal. But he seemed happy with it, and I guess that's all that matters.

5 My daughter had a guinea pig who stunk too (well, the fecalia did, not the animal itself). I don't know if it taught her "responsiblity" or "never have a pet ever again".

6 David's observations aside, I can also comment that skunks are quite adaptable when it comes to living amongst humans. My parents (and I) live in SW Ohio, and in their suburb, the skunks are quite happy there, rooting in the various gardens, and using the storm drain system as a super-highway to get about (I witnessed that with my own eyes...).

And like many of the other 'wild' animals, decidedly nonchalant in the presence of humans... a growing trend amongst critters living in settled areas (the 'burbs), at least where we live.