Striped Skunk

About the striped skunk

The striped skunk occurs across much of North America, from southern Canada through the United States into northern Mexico, and is listed as Least Concern thanks to its wide range and its knack for adapting to human-modified environments. It was first formally described by Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber as Viverra mephitis, with a type locality in eastern Canada; the fossil record traces the genus Mephitis back to the early Pleistocene, less than 1.8 million years ago, at a site in Nebraska, and by the late Pleistocene the species was already widespread across the southern United States before expanding north and west as glaciers retreated.

Physically, the striped skunk is stoutly built and short-limbed, with a small, conical head and a long, heavily furred tail. Adult males run about 10% larger than females, and both sexes measure 52 to 77 cm (20 to 30 in) in total body length, typically weighing 1.8 to 4.5 kg (4.0 to 9.9 lb), with some individuals reaching 5.5 kg (12 lb). The feet are plantigrade with bare soles; the forefeet carry five long, curved claws built for digging, while the hind claws are shorter and straighter. Coloring varies but generally follows the same plan: a black base with a white stripe running from the head that splits at the shoulders and continues along the flanks to the rump and tail, sometimes accompanied by a white chest patch or white forelimb stripes. Brown or cream-colored individuals occur occasionally.

The feature that defines the species, though, is its defense. Like all skunks, it carries two highly developed scent glands, one on either side of the anus, each holding about 15 milliliters of an oily, yellow musk made up of powerfully odorous sulfur compounds. The skunk can spray this musk several meters, and if it reaches the eyes it causes a temporary burning sensation — a deterrent effective enough that the species has few natural predators willing to risk it.

Behavior and diet

Striped skunks are mostly nocturnal and polygamous, breeding once a year during a mating season that runs from mid-February to mid-April, later at higher latitudes. Males spend this period searching widely for mates, sometimes covering 4 km (2.5 mi) in a single night; on finding a female, a male approaches from the rear, licks her genitals, then bites her nape before copulating. A single male may keep and defend a harem of several females for about 35 days before the mating period ends, after which pregnant females retreat to their dens while males focus on rebuilding fat reserves. Gestation lasts 59 to 77 days, with kits typically born from mid-May to early June in litters of 2 to 12 — average 5 or 6, though a litter of 18 has been recorded in Pennsylvania. Kits arrive blind and sparsely furred, weighing just 25 to 40 grams; their eyes open around three weeks, they're weaned at 42 to 56 days, and they become independent at about two and a half months. Even before their musk glands are fully developed, kits instinctively assume the species' defensive stance when threatened.

Dens matter year-round. Skunks will dig their own or take over ones abandoned by other animals, relying on them mainly in late fall, winter, and early spring, while females with unweaned kits use dens through late spring and summer. In cultivated land, skunks often den in fencerows, likely because farm machinery and livestock are less likely to disturb them there, and in winter it's common for several females and a single male to share one den, lowering their body temperature from 38 °C to 32 °C to conserve energy — a skunk can lose as much as half its body weight over a hard winter.

Diet is flexible. Primarily an insectivore, the striped skunk most often eats grasshoppers, beetles, crickets, caterpillars, other insect larvae, and bees, supplemented by worms, crayfish, and other invertebrates. In winter and spring it adds small vertebrates — white-footed mice, voles, eggs, and the chicks of ground-nesting birds — along with amphibians, reptiles, carrion, and fish; populations along California's coast will even take crabs and beached fish. Vegetable matter rounds things out, including apples, blueberries, black cherries, corn, and nightshade when in season. Skunks use their sharp digging claws to tear apart rotting logs for grubs and to pin down prey, leaving small, telltale pits in the ground where they've been foraging.

Range and habitat

The striped skunk's range spans southern Canada, the continental United States, and northern Mexico. It occupies a wide variety of habitats, with a particular fondness for mixed woodlands, brushy corners, and open fields broken up by wooded ravines and rocky outcrops. Some populations, notably in northwestern Illinois, actually prefer cultivated farmland to uncultivated ground, denning in fencerows and foraging in fields.

Conservation status

The striped skunk is listed as Least Concern, a status tied to its broad range and its ability to thrive in landscapes altered by people. It does have some natural checks: mammalian predators such as cougars, coyotes, bobcats, badgers, and red and gray foxes generally avoid skunks unless desperate, though birds of prey — including golden and bald eagles and great horned owls — hunt them with more success, accepting the risk of being sprayed. The species is also a major carrier of rabies, second only to raccoons among reported U.S. cases, and can host canine parvovirus and leptospirosis as well. Historically, the striped skunk was also one of North America's most heavily trapped furbearers, once ranking second only to the muskrat in harvest numbers, and prized for a fur that darkens and becomes more valuable in northern populations.