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Striped Skunk
Mephitis mephitis
CLASS: Mammalia
ORDER: Carnivora
FAMILY: Mustelidae
SIZE:
About 24 inches total length, the tail 8.5 inches.
RANGE:
Southern Canada through the United States into northern Mexico.
HABITAT:
Bushy, wooded, and cleared areas such as farms. They hole-up in abandoned dens, in stumps, and beneath old buildings.
DIET:
Wild - Omnivorous, eating rats, mice, insects, and some plant matter
Zoo - Dry cat food, baby mice, and feline diet (meat)
DESCRIPTION:
Glossy black with a thin white stripe down middle of the face, broad white band on top of head sividing into two stripes running the length of the body, with white interspersed in the long, bushy tail. Eyes are small and black. Legs are short, with the hind legs slightly longer than the front.
FACTS:
Nocturnal, mainly hunting in the early evening.
They give warning before spraying by arching their back and stamping their feet; they elevate their tail over their back to spray.
They are preyed upon by Great Horned Owls, hawks, bobcats, foxes, and dogs.
Skunks normally are very quiet, making low churring sounds, growls, and shrill birdlike screeches.
YOUNG:
Six or seven kits (young) are born with eyes and ears closed and only a thin covering of hair. Eyes and ears open in 4 weeks; shortly after this they can discharge their spray. Weaned at 8 to 10 weeks.
STATUS:
Not protected, common.
REFERENCE:
The Mammals of Louisiana and Its Adjacent Waters. George H. Lowery, Jr.
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