Striped skunk

Striped skunk

Description

The striped skunk is a cat-sized North American carnivore with glossy black fur marked by two bold white stripes. These meet in a thin line on the forehead and widen across the back onto the bushy tail. It measures 52–77 cm including the tail and usually weighs 1.2–4 kg. It is best known for its defence: paired glands beneath the tail can spray a pungent, foul-smelling musk up to three metres.

Habitat

It lives across a wide range of North American landscapes, from deciduous woodland and grassy plains to semi-desert, farmland and the edges of towns. By day it shelters in burrows, hollows or beneath buildings, becoming active mainly at dusk and during the night.

Diet

An omnivore with a strong taste for insects, it eats beetles, grubs and earthworms as well as small rodents, eggs, frogs, nestlings, fruit and seeds. It uses its strong claws to dig through the soil in search of larvae and other invertebrates.

Reproduction

Mating takes place in February and March, and gestation lasts about 60–75 days. The female typically gives birth to 4–7 blind kits, which stay in the den and nurse for roughly two months, becoming independent by autumn.

Lifespan

In the wild it usually lives only 2–3 years, occasionally 6–7, while in human care it commonly reaches 10 years or more.

Did you know?

Before spraying, a skunk warns intruders by stamping its front feet, raising its fur and lifting its tail — only if that fails does it turn and fire. The scent can be detected hundreds of metres away.