Famous Cartoon Skunks and How to Identify the Real Thing

The skunk is flat footed and walks on the soles of its feet. It is slow and deliberate, and very confident in its power of defense. If unmolested, it will simply amble off. The skunk usually spends the day in its den, an abandoned woodchuck hole, or under a house or barn. As evening approaches, it comes out to forage for food. Insects, larvae, mice, and fruit are some foods for the skunk.

The mating season for the skunk is in early spring. Around March in a temperate climate. Two males may clash over the possession of a female and befoul each other with their vile liquid. The gestation period is fifty one days and there are four to eight young in a litter. The young are hairless and blind at birth. They open their eyes at three weeks old. They are self dependent when two months old.

The skunk makes a friendly pet when taken young. It is a good ratter and mouser and will keep a garden free of slugs and beetles. There is always the chance of an accident if a strange dog or cat comes around, it is best to have the anal glands removed. The skunk is beneficial to man because it destroys insects, rats, and mice. Man has opened new territory and feeding grounds for the skunk. There are many more skunks in North America than ever before.

The skunk's defense weapon is its highly specialized anal glands, embedded in the muscle at the base of its tail. There are two glands which when fired eject two fine jets of liquid united into one spray. The skunk can hit a mark at a distance of 9 feet, or sometimes up to 12 feet. The liquid is a yellow oily substance containing sulfur compounds such as butyl mercaptan. This fluid has a most objectionable and nauseating odor, but its smarting and burning effect, especially when it comes into contact with the eyes, nose, and mouth, is its real purpose. A direct hit in the eyes will cause temporary blindness. The skunk has enough substance in its glands to fire six successive shots, then it needs to take some time to replenish the glands. It conserves its ammunition and always gives ample warning. At first it just growls and stamps its foot. Should this be ineffective, up goes the tail, but the white tip hangs limply. If the intruder or enemy takes one step closer, up goes the tip, stiff as a ramrod, and the skunk aims with deadly accuracy at the head of the foe. Thus, the skunk is able to protect itself from most four footed enemies. However it is not so successful with the great horned owl, which seems to be oblivious to the smell.

The striped skunk (mephitis mephitis) is the common skunk of North America. It is a large handsome animal about two feet long and seven inches high at the shoulder. It weighs about five pounds to about ten pounds. Its body is covered with long glossy black fur, relieved by two broad white lines that are united on the head and extend backward in two divergent bands that encompass the body and run down each side of the tail to the tip. The tail is long and bushy, and the amount of white on the tip is variable.

The hooded skunk (M macroura) another species of striped skunk, is found in Mexico and Central America. It has a hood of long white hair on the neck and a broad white band down the back.

The hog nosed skunk (Conepatus) is the only kind of skunk found in South America. It is larger and stockier than the striped skunk and it has a long naked muzzle for rooting the ground. Its coarse stiff hair, which is brownish black in color, has a broad white band extending from the forehead to the base of the tail and covers practically all of the upper half of the body including the tail.

The spotted skunk (Spilogale) is a small skunk with a bushy tail found in the southeastern United States and southward to Costa Rica. Its fur is long, soft, and black with numerous long white stripes, broken up into spots and dashes down the back and sides. Sometimes it goes by the name of civet cat. During the breeding season the spotted skunk becomes extremely aggressive, which has sometimes led to the erroneous belief that it has rabies (hydrophobia).