Skunk

Conepatus

Reproduction

Breeding usually takes place in early spring. Females excavate a den ready for between one and four young to be born in May. The male plays no part in raising the young and may even kill them. A common scene in late spring and summer is a mother skunk followed by a line of her kits. By late July or August the young disperse. When the young skunks meet again, they raise their tails vertically. After a little posturing they start to rub against each other, often rolling around in what appears to be an embrace. Older skunks seem less friendly to the young kits.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Although they have excellent senses of smell and hearing—vital attributes in a nocturnal carnivore—they have poor vision. They cannot see objects more than about 3 metres away with any clarity, which makes them very vulnerable to road traffic. Roughly half of all skunk deaths are caused by humans, as roadkill, or as a result of shooting and poisoning. They are short-lived animals: fewer than 10% survive for longer than three years.

Related Topics:
Traffic - Roadkill - Poison

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The best-known and most distinctive feature of the skunks is the great development of their scent glands, which they can use as a defensive weapon. They have two glands, on either side of the anus, that produce a mixture of sulfur-containing chemicals (methyl and butyl mercaptans) that has a highly offensive smell. Muscles located next to the scent glands allow them to spray with high accuracy as far as 2 to 3 metres (7 to 10 ft). The smell aside, the spray can cause irritation and even temporary blindness, and is sufficiently powerful to be detected by even an insensitive human nose anywhere up to a mile downwind. Their chemical defense, though unusual, is effective, as illustrated by this extract from Charles Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle:

Related Topics:
Sulfur - Methyl - Butyl - Mercaptan - Charles Darwin

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

We saw also a couple of Zorillos, or skunks,--odious animals, which are far from

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

uncommon. In general appearance the Zorillo resembles a polecat,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

but it is rather larger, and much thicker in proportion. Conscious

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

of its power, it roams by day about the open plain, and fears

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

neither dog nor man. If a dog is urged to the attack, its courage

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

is instantly checked by a few drops of the fetid oil, which brings

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

on violent sickness and running at the nose. Whatever is once

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

polluted by it, is for ever useless. Azara says the smell can be

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

perceived at a league distant; more than once, when entering the

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

harbour of Monte Video, the wind being off shore, we have perceived

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

the odour on board the "Beagle." Certain it is, that every animal

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

most willingly makes room for the Zorillo.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Because skunks have only enough scent for 5 or 6 "reloads" —about 1 tablespoon (15 grams)—and take a couple of days to refill their scent glands, they are reluctant to expend their "ammunition". This is why skunks have such bold black and white colouring: to ensure they are as visible and as memorable as possible. Where practical, it is to a skunk's advantage to simply warn a threatening creature off without expending scent: the black and white warning colour aside, threatened skunks will go through an elaborate routine of hisses and foot stamping and tail-high threat postures before expelling a shower of scent. Interestingly, skunks will not spray other skunks (with the exception of males in the mating season); though they fight over den space in autumn, they do so with tooth and claw.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The musk-spraying ability of the skunk has not escaped the attention of biologists: the name of the most common species, Mephitis mephitis, means "stench stench", and Spilogale putorius means "stinking spotted weasel". The word skunk is a corruption of an Abenaki name for them, segongw or segonku, which means "one who squirts" in the Algonquian dialect.

Related Topics:
Abenaki - Algonquian

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Most predatory animals of the Americas, such as wolves, foxes and badgers, seldom attack skunks – presumably out of fear of being sprayed. The exception is the great horned owl, the animal's only serious predator (which, being a bird, has a poor-to-nonexistent sense of smell).

Related Topics:
Predatory - Wolve - Fox - Badger - Great horned owl - Bird

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Skunks are closely related to the weasel group and although they are now generally classfied as a separate family within the same order, some taxonomists still place them as a subfamily of the Mustelidae.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Domesticated skunks can legally be kept as pets in certain U.S. states. Mephitis mephitis, the striped skunk species, is the most social skunk and the one most commonly domesticated. When the skunk is kept as a pet, the scent gland is removed. Some skunks were reported by European settlers in America as being kept as pets by certain Native Americans. The Pilgrims are said to have kept skunks as pets.

Related Topics:
Domesticated skunk - Pet - Native American - Pilgrims

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• ORDER CARNIVORA
• Family Felidae: cats, 37 species
• Family Canidae: dogs, 35 species
• Family Ursidae: bears, 8 species
• Family Procyonidae: raccoons, 19 species
• Family Mustelidae: weasels and allies, 55 species
• Family Mephitidae
• Striped Skunk, Mephitis mephitis
• Hooded Skunk, Mephitis macroura
• Western Spotted Skunk, Spilogale gracilis
• Channel Islands Spotted Skunk, Spilogale gracilis amphiala
• Eastern Spotted Skunk, Spilogale putorius
• Pygmy Spotted Skunk, Spilogale pygmaea
• Western Hog-nosed Skunk, Conepatus mesoleucus
• Eastern Hog-nosed Skunk, Conepatus leuconotus
• Amazonian Skunk, Conepatus semistriatus
• Andes Skunk, Conepatus chinga
• Patagonian Skunk, Conepatus humboldtii
• Family Viverridae: civets and genets, 35 species
• Family Herpestidae: Mongooses, 35 species
• Family Hyaenidae: hyenas, 4 species