Ian,
I'm not sure about that, because with a permit, you can have coyotes for urine collection. Last I heard in Texas, both skunks and coyotes weren't classified as "game Animals' , but classified as nuisance animals, so you may be able to get a permit to retain a skunk as a pet. There must be some classification to include some furbearing animals, as there are also people with captive bobcats in Texas also. There are pretty stringent regs in most states to the care and holding facilities, but you may want to do some digging to find out for sure if you really want a skunk.
Rick,
I've heard other people say the same thing, and my understanding, is the way the operation is done, or if just the pods are removed without removing all the production glands, results in the smell later. I've held two skunks in my life that didn't stink, but handled a bunch that did! LOL