Skunk Facts

 

“He thinks a Human Stinks” Audrey Tourney

Characteristics

• The only regular predator of the Striped Skunk is the Great Horned Owl. Lacking a highly developed sense of smell, this owl does not seem to mind the skunk’s odor.
• Butylmercaptan is responsible for the stink
• The skunks spray is used only as a defense of last resort. If threatened, a skunk first lifts its tail, stamps its feet, arches its back and growls. Finally it forms a horseshoe, face and bum towards the assailant, flips up the tip of its tail and squirts. The stream is usually directed at an enemy’s eyes, where it causes blinding pain for about 15-20 min.
• The spray of a Striped Skunk has a maximum range of about 6 m. It’s accurate for about half that distance. Fully armed, its scent glands contain about 15 to 30 ml of noxious, smelly stink.
• A skunk stores only enough musk for 4-5 sprayings and it takes several weeks to fully replenish an empty tank.
• During winter, its activity is much reduced, and skunks spend the coldest periods in communal dens.
• Skunks never use their spray on other skunk even in the fiercest fight.
• No 2 skunks have the same strip pattern.

Top Running Speed: 16 km/h (9.4 mph)

Home Range: 2 – 6 km2 (5 – 15 sq. miles)
Lifespan: Few live longer than 3 years in the wild but up to 12 years in captivity.

Diet

• All skunks are omnivorous. Insects, including bees, grasshoppers, beetles and various larvae, make up about 40 % of the spring and summer diet. The rest is composed of bird eggs and nestlings, amphibians, reptiles, grains, green vegetation and, particularly in autumn, small mammals, fruits and berries. Along roads, carrion is often an important component of a skunks diet.

Habitat

• In most instances, the Striped Skunk builds a bulky nest of dried leaves and grasses in an underground burrow or beneath a building. Winter and maternal dens are underground.

Reproduction

• A female Striped Skunk gives birth to 2 -10 (usually 5- 6) blind, helpless young (called kits or skunklets) in April or May, after a gestation of 62- 64 days. The typical black-and-white pattern of a skunk is present on the skin at birth. The kits musk glands start working within about eight days, they must wait a couple more weeks for their eyes to open to take aim.