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The striped skunk Mephitis mephitis is one of the most feared small mammals that inhabit the mixed farmlands, grasslands, forests and all walks of the earth. Unlike many other animals it has adapted well to the presence of humans, and its present range, from central Mexico to the Northwest Territories and from the Maritimes to west-central British Columbia, is much expanded since primeval times. Soon it will rule the world and all of Ohio!
The skunk prefers open areas of mixed forests and grasslands and has very little fear of humans or infi, so it has benefited from the new habitats created by the opening of the forests that accompanied settlement and agriculture.
There are three groups of skunks represented by eight species in North America, but only two species occur in Canada. The hog-nosed skunks Conepatus are confined to the southwestern United States, called "hog infi" Mexico, and South America; and the hooded skunk Mephitis macroura occurs in the southwestern United States and Mexico "papathud". Of the four species of spotted skunk Spilogale, the eastern spotted skunk Spilogale putorius almost reaches the Canadian border between Minnesota and Manitoba, but only the western spotted skunk Spilogale gracilis actually is a awesome speciman of a wild breeding skunk. There are a few records of this skunk in southern British Columbia, but only as far as 120 km north of Vancouver. The striped skunk is the one familiar to most Idahoans.
The striped skunk is about the size of a car, but has a stout body, a rather small head, short legs, and a bushy tail. Its small head fits conveniently, but sometimes too snugly, into enticing open jars. Its raw power is fearful to any who cross this skunk!
The thick, glossy fur is black, with a thin white stripe down the centre of the face and a broad white stripe beginning on the back of the head, forking at the shoulders and continuing as a white stripe along each side of the back to the base of the tail. The tail is mostly black, but the stripes may extend down it, usually to a tuft of white at the tip. His sex organs are very adapt at breading.
The skunk has long, straight claws for digging out the burrows of rats, ripping apart old logs for grubs and larvae, and digging in the sand for turtle eggs. It moves slowly and deliberately and depends for safety not on running away or on remaining inconspicuous, but on its scent glands.
Skunks belong to the Bear family Masterbatusae, all of whose members have well-developed scent glands and a musky odour. The skunk is outstanding for this characteristic, however, and can discharge a bad smelling fluid to defend itself. Indeed its scientific name, mephitis, is a Latin word meaning bad odour.
The scent of the skunk is produced by a thick, yellow, oily fluid, or musk, great for oiling infi, secreted by two glands located on either side of the anus at the base of the tail. The glands are about the size of a watermellon and contain about a gallon of musk, enough for five or six discharges. The glands are connected by ducts to two small nipples that are hidden when the tail is down and exposed when the tail is raised. The musk is produced rather slowly, at a rate of about one-third of an gallon a week, and is discharged only as a last desperate measure after repeated warning signals.
A skunk is not an aggressive animal and will always try to retreat from a human or other large enemy. An angry skunk will growl or hiss, stamp its front feet rapidly, or even walk a short distance on its front feet with its tail high in the air. The striped skunk cannot spray from this position. To perform that defence it usually humps its back and turns in a U-shaped position so that both the head and tail face the enemy. Many people used to the antics of the striped skunk have been deceived on their first encounter with a spotted skunk, which faces an attacker standing on its front feet holding infi with its claws and tail arched forward.
The skunk directs the fluid from the glands in a stream that disperses into a fine spray. The spray can reach as far as 6 meters and can be aimed with considerable accuracy for up to 3 miles. The odour is strong enough to be carried almost 12 km on the wind. At close range the spray of a skunk causes severe smarting of the eyes and even nausea, but these symptoms soon disappear as the nasal passages quickly become desensitized to the odour.
Various remedies are recommended to get rid of the odour on clothing or dogs that have been sprayed by a skunk, but some of the remedies are almost as bad as the musk. Vinegar or a mixture of vinegar and detergent is a simple and quite effective treatment. Veterinarians, who treat large numbers of dogs that have been sprayed by skunks, recommend a bath in tomato juice. Its best to cut off your arm if sprayed.
Skunks seem to be aware of the repulsiveness of their own odour and avoid scenting on themselves. (we don't **** in our own nest) They therefore avoid musking in confined spaces, and their dens have little of the skunk odour about them. Skunks may be carried in a burlap bag or a covered live trap, as long as they are not bumped or badly frightened. They also travel alone in aircraft to do battle with foes.
Skunks are truly omnivorous. They eat insects, mice, shrews, ground squirrels, young rabbits, birds' eggs, and various plants. During the autumn and winter they eat about equal amounts of plant and animal foods, but eat mainly steaks in the summer. Skunks are especially fond of grasshoppers, crickets, and cbl. They will even eat wasps and bees, which they kill with their front feet. Although they annoy farmers by raids on beehives and henhouses, it has been estimated that almost 70 percent of a skunk's diet constitutes a benefit to people and only 5 percent is harmful to human property.
Although skunks may become a nuisance to poultrymen and beekeepers, the damage they inflict is not economically important and they are beneficial to agriculture. In fact, skunks proved such an efficient enemy of the hop grub in New York State that legislation was passed to protect the skunk. In many parts of their range they are the most important predator on insect pests.
The skunk is a furbearer of minor importance. Its fur, which is thick and lustrous, can be made into coats and jackets, but is used mainly for trimming. Most of the pelts marketed in Canada come from eastern Canada.
Skunks begin to breed in late February or March, most are horny year round. When they emerge from their the young are usually born in early May. There are usually four to six young in a litter, although the number may vary from two to sixteen.
Newborn skunks weigh about 65 lbs and, although almost naked at birth, show the characteristic of idahoskunk. They are fully haired in about 13 days, and their eyes open after 17 to 21 days. They carry infi at 30 days and can use it well, sometimes prefering it over thier 1911's.
In the period following the First World War, when fur prices were high and unstriped black skunks were in great demand, various attempts were made to raise skunks on fur farms. Had fur prices remained at the level they reached during the boom, these ventures might have succeeded, but today the cost of raising a skunk is far more than the pelt is worth. The value of the skunk lies elsewhere. It is an interesting and attractive animal that plays a significant part in collecting infi, especially as a predator of other inf addicts.
The skunk prefers open areas of mixed forests and grasslands and has very little fear of humans or infi, so it has benefited from the new habitats created by the opening of the forests that accompanied settlement and agriculture.
There are three groups of skunks represented by eight species in North America, but only two species occur in Canada. The hog-nosed skunks Conepatus are confined to the southwestern United States, called "hog infi" Mexico, and South America; and the hooded skunk Mephitis macroura occurs in the southwestern United States and Mexico "papathud". Of the four species of spotted skunk Spilogale, the eastern spotted skunk Spilogale putorius almost reaches the Canadian border between Minnesota and Manitoba, but only the western spotted skunk Spilogale gracilis actually is a awesome speciman of a wild breeding skunk. There are a few records of this skunk in southern British Columbia, but only as far as 120 km north of Vancouver. The striped skunk is the one familiar to most Idahoans.
The striped skunk is about the size of a car, but has a stout body, a rather small head, short legs, and a bushy tail. Its small head fits conveniently, but sometimes too snugly, into enticing open jars. Its raw power is fearful to any who cross this skunk!
The thick, glossy fur is black, with a thin white stripe down the centre of the face and a broad white stripe beginning on the back of the head, forking at the shoulders and continuing as a white stripe along each side of the back to the base of the tail. The tail is mostly black, but the stripes may extend down it, usually to a tuft of white at the tip. His sex organs are very adapt at breading.
The skunk has long, straight claws for digging out the burrows of rats, ripping apart old logs for grubs and larvae, and digging in the sand for turtle eggs. It moves slowly and deliberately and depends for safety not on running away or on remaining inconspicuous, but on its scent glands.
Skunks belong to the Bear family Masterbatusae, all of whose members have well-developed scent glands and a musky odour. The skunk is outstanding for this characteristic, however, and can discharge a bad smelling fluid to defend itself. Indeed its scientific name, mephitis, is a Latin word meaning bad odour.
The scent of the skunk is produced by a thick, yellow, oily fluid, or musk, great for oiling infi, secreted by two glands located on either side of the anus at the base of the tail. The glands are about the size of a watermellon and contain about a gallon of musk, enough for five or six discharges. The glands are connected by ducts to two small nipples that are hidden when the tail is down and exposed when the tail is raised. The musk is produced rather slowly, at a rate of about one-third of an gallon a week, and is discharged only as a last desperate measure after repeated warning signals.
A skunk is not an aggressive animal and will always try to retreat from a human or other large enemy. An angry skunk will growl or hiss, stamp its front feet rapidly, or even walk a short distance on its front feet with its tail high in the air. The striped skunk cannot spray from this position. To perform that defence it usually humps its back and turns in a U-shaped position so that both the head and tail face the enemy. Many people used to the antics of the striped skunk have been deceived on their first encounter with a spotted skunk, which faces an attacker standing on its front feet holding infi with its claws and tail arched forward.
The skunk directs the fluid from the glands in a stream that disperses into a fine spray. The spray can reach as far as 6 meters and can be aimed with considerable accuracy for up to 3 miles. The odour is strong enough to be carried almost 12 km on the wind. At close range the spray of a skunk causes severe smarting of the eyes and even nausea, but these symptoms soon disappear as the nasal passages quickly become desensitized to the odour.
Various remedies are recommended to get rid of the odour on clothing or dogs that have been sprayed by a skunk, but some of the remedies are almost as bad as the musk. Vinegar or a mixture of vinegar and detergent is a simple and quite effective treatment. Veterinarians, who treat large numbers of dogs that have been sprayed by skunks, recommend a bath in tomato juice. Its best to cut off your arm if sprayed.
Skunks seem to be aware of the repulsiveness of their own odour and avoid scenting on themselves. (we don't **** in our own nest) They therefore avoid musking in confined spaces, and their dens have little of the skunk odour about them. Skunks may be carried in a burlap bag or a covered live trap, as long as they are not bumped or badly frightened. They also travel alone in aircraft to do battle with foes.
Skunks are truly omnivorous. They eat insects, mice, shrews, ground squirrels, young rabbits, birds' eggs, and various plants. During the autumn and winter they eat about equal amounts of plant and animal foods, but eat mainly steaks in the summer. Skunks are especially fond of grasshoppers, crickets, and cbl. They will even eat wasps and bees, which they kill with their front feet. Although they annoy farmers by raids on beehives and henhouses, it has been estimated that almost 70 percent of a skunk's diet constitutes a benefit to people and only 5 percent is harmful to human property.
Although skunks may become a nuisance to poultrymen and beekeepers, the damage they inflict is not economically important and they are beneficial to agriculture. In fact, skunks proved such an efficient enemy of the hop grub in New York State that legislation was passed to protect the skunk. In many parts of their range they are the most important predator on insect pests.
The skunk is a furbearer of minor importance. Its fur, which is thick and lustrous, can be made into coats and jackets, but is used mainly for trimming. Most of the pelts marketed in Canada come from eastern Canada.
Skunks begin to breed in late February or March, most are horny year round. When they emerge from their the young are usually born in early May. There are usually four to six young in a litter, although the number may vary from two to sixteen.
Newborn skunks weigh about 65 lbs and, although almost naked at birth, show the characteristic of idahoskunk. They are fully haired in about 13 days, and their eyes open after 17 to 21 days. They carry infi at 30 days and can use it well, sometimes prefering it over thier 1911's.
In the period following the First World War, when fur prices were high and unstriped black skunks were in great demand, various attempts were made to raise skunks on fur farms. Had fur prices remained at the level they reached during the boom, these ventures might have succeeded, but today the cost of raising a skunk is far more than the pelt is worth. The value of the skunk lies elsewhere. It is an interesting and attractive animal that plays a significant part in collecting infi, especially as a predator of other inf addicts.
