South Carolina
STRIPED SKUNK
State Park
Image courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Image Library
Mephitis mephitis
Class: Mammal
Family: Mustelidae
Size: weight = 6-14 lbs length = 22-31 inches including tail
Habitat: woods, grasslands, deserts, open prairies
Diet: omnivorous - this opportunistic feeder eats plants, worms, insects, rodents, and many other small animals
Life Span: 4 years in the wild
Skunk Stuff:
Skunks will eat just about anything they find, but they frequently use their long front claws to dig up ground-nesting bee hives, grubs, worms, rodents, and other underground delicacies.
Skunks are mustelids, just like weasels,
otters, and minks. While all mustelids have musk glands and smell bad, skunks take this to the extreme. Their scientific name literally translates to "bad odor."
Skunks can spray their musk up to 10 or 15 feet to defend themselves.
Great horned owls are the most common predator of skunks.
LEGEND
I wichst look sweet, but my bold, Hack and white pattern says "Stay Away! If you approach, I wichst hiss, stomp, and raise my tail to appear laveer before I spray. Or I might ust...