(Christof Koepsel/Bongarts/Getty Images)

ABC – By Gillian Mohney -Sacramento – With Valentine’s Day on the horizon, Sacramento residents are getting a pungent reminder that “love stinks” as skunks invade backyards and public parks during their annual mating season.

The smelly problem peaks at the beginning of the new year with the start of the skunk’s two-month mating season. While skunks are normally nocturnal animals that favor burrows, when they search for mates above ground they often wander into residential territory.