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Vermont Wildlife Fact Sheet: Striped Skunk

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Vermont Wildlife Fact Sheet: Striped Skunk Striped Skunk Mephitis mephitis The striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) is a highly adaptable animal that can be found in a wide variety of habitats, from open fields to urban areas. It is well known for its ability to spray an unpleasant scent to ward off potential threats. Vermont Wildlife Fact Sheet Physical Description musky odor. It is capable of breed and raise a family of their spraying at distances of 15 feet. own. The female skunk becomes The striped skunk is sexually mature at the age of one about the size of a house cat, Life Cycle year. reaching a length of 25 to 32 inches and weighing between Breeding occurs from Food Items three and fourteen pounds. The February through late March. male is generally larger than the The male will mate with more The striped skunk is an female. It has small, beady black than one female in a breeding omnivore, eating both plants eyes, a pointed nose, and a bushy season, but the female will mate and animals. It is an opportunist tail but its most distinctive feature with only one male. She will by nature, depending on the is its coloration. Its coat is then build a nest. It will be season and food availability. Its uniformly black with a broad under a wood pile, dig a den in a diet includes insects, beetles, white stripe running down its bank, or inhabit an abandoned crickets, grasshoppers, small back. The stripe is a single line den from another animal, like a mammals, birds, eggs, at the skunk's head, but splits woodchuck's burrow. vegetation and garbage. The into two as it continues down the After a gestation period of striped skunk's willingness to back to its tail, forming a V in approximately 63 days, the young eat garbage has allowed it to appearance. are born in late April to early spread into towns and cities. This coloration is thought June. Litter size varies from two The skunk forages at night to be a warning to other animals. to ten young, with the average aggressively searching out food Animals that ignore this warning being six to seven. The young are guided by its strong sense of run the risk of being sprayed. born sightless and covered with smell. It will hunt for insects or The scent glands are located at fur that already has the tell-tale burrowing animlas by digging. the base of the tail, so when the markings. The female is skunk is preparing to spray, it protective of her young, even Habits & Habitat will raise its tail straight up in carrying them around in her the air and begin making a mouth. After four weeks, the Striped skunks are found hissing sound. Besides the young open their eyes. Weaning in a variety of habitats, including strong odor, the spray can occurs from six to eight weeks of fields, open areas, and along the temporarily blind an attacker by age. The female raises the young, edges of forests. They are making its eyes water. Skunk and it is not uncommon to see the abundant in agricultural areas, musk also can cause an intense family out feeding on a summer which provide a stable and fear in the victim which may be night. The young leave home in abundant food supply. They can triggered in later years by a the fall, or following spring, to also be found in wetlands and Striped Skunk Fact Sheet 1 along beaches. Striped skunks spray. An animal control officer have become adapted to life should be contacted, so that the among people and are common in animal can be properly dealt with. small rural towns to large urban cities. For rearing the young, Abundance skunks require dens, using ones they have built themselves or Skunks are a common in abandoned by another animal. Vermont Their populations They may make dens under fluctuate from year to year, houses. depending on food availavlity, Striped skunks are most seasonal and climatic conditions active from sunset to sunrise, thus and disease. they are considered to be both crepuscular and nocturnal. Striped skunks are not true History hibernators, but will den and become inactive during long In the 1930s and 1940s, stretches of cold weather. They skunk pelts were in great demand may share a den at this time to and, although a market still exists, conserve body heat; a den may it is not as valuable as it once contain a few females and a single was. male. Usually solitary, this may be the only time when a male and Resource Utilization female would be together other than during the breeding season. Striped skunks are As striped skunks are not extremely helpful in controlling adept climbers or fast runners, agricultural pests. They eat large they defend themselves by quantities of insects such as spraying their attackers with an cutworms, grasshoppers, and oily, foul smelling musk. In potato beetles, that otherwise addition to the pungent odor, the could damage crops. Skunks are liquid can cause severe pain and also trapped for their fur. They even temporary blindness. When are still considered an important threatened, skunks will generally furbearer throughout their range. face the intuder, arch their back, raise their tail, and move Management Efforts backwards while stamping their feet. Skunks can spray a scent up The striped skunk to 15 feet, but the smell can carry population is monitored closely to up to a mile. regulate hunting and trapping Because striped skunks limits. In Vermont, it is protected are so abundant, their populations from over harvesting with the often susceptible to diseases, such trapping season only lasting two as rabies. Rabid skunks are months, from the end of October dangerous and should be avoided. through the end of December. Their behavior is much different This time of year is chosen to from that of healthy skunks. protect against mothers or Some characteristics of infected newborns being harvested. skunks are activity during the day, aggression, or being unlikely to Illustration by J.J. Audubon Striped Skunk Fact Sheet 2 .
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