Skunk

Skunks are special mammals that belong to a group called Mephitidae. They are most famous for their ability to spray a very strong and smelly liquid from special glands near their tails. This spray helps protect them from animals that might want to hurt them.

Skunks look different depending on the species, but many have black bodies with white stripes. Some can be brown, cream-colored, or even a reddish-ginger shade. All skunks have bright colors that act as a warning to other animals.

Even though they look similar to animals like polecats and other members of the weasel family, skunks are most closely related to stink badgers from faraway places. These clever animals have evolved their special defense to stay safe in the wild.

Taxonomy

Main article: List of mephitids

Skunks belong to a family called Mephitidae. There are several types of skunks, each with its own special name. Some are called hog-nosed skunks, like Molina's, Humboldt's, American, and striped hog-nosed skunks. Others are known as hooded or striped skunks. There are also different kinds of spotted skunks, including southern, western, eastern, and pygmy spotted skunks.

Terminology

The word skunk dates back to the 1630s, coming from a southern New England Algonquian language, likely Abenaki. In 1634, a skunk was described in The Jesuit Relations, noting its black fur with white stripes and mentioning its very strong smell.

In some parts of the Southern United States, people sometimes call skunks polecats, even though polecats are not closely related to skunks. The word skunk can also be used as a verb to mean completely beating an opponent in a game or contest. It is also a name used for some strong-smelling types of Cannabis.

Description

Skunks are animals that come in different sizes, ranging from about 15.6 to 37 inches long and weighing from about 1.1 pound to 18 pounds. They have bodies that are not very long with short, strong legs and long front claws good for digging. Each skunk has five toes on its feet.

Most skunks have fur that is black and white, but some can be brown or grey, and a few are cream-colored. All skunks have stripes, even when they are born. These stripes can be a single thick line across the back and tail, two thinner lines, or a pattern of white spots and broken lines, like in the spotted skunk.

Behavior

Skunks are animals that are most active at dawn and dusk and usually live alone, except when raising young. In cold areas, they sometimes share warm dens with others of their kind. They rest during the day in burrows dug with strong front claws. Their normal home area is about 0.5 to 2 miles wide, but males travel farther when looking for mates.

Though skunks have a great sense of smell and hearing, they do not see well and can only spot things about 10 feet away. This makes them more likely to be hit by cars. They usually live about six years in the wild but can live longer in captivity.

Skunks have families in the spring. The mother finds a den and has between four and seven babies, called kits. The kits are born blind and covered in soft fur. After about three weeks, they open their eyes and are weaned around two months old. They stay with their mother until they are about a year old. The father does not help raise the young.

Skunks eat both plants and animals, adjusting their diet with the seasons. They eat insects, small animals like rodents and birds, and plants like berries and nuts. In areas where people live, they sometimes eat garbage or search for food around pets. They use their claws to dig for insects and to catch prey.

Skunks are well known for spraying a very strong liquid from special glands to scare away enemies. This spray can make it hard to see and smells very bad, but it keeps most animals away. Skunks show warning signs like hissing and stomping their feet before spraying. Their black and white coloring also helps warn others.

Relations with humans

Bites

It is very unusual for a healthy skunk to bite a person. However, a skunk that has had its scent glands removed — often because someone wants to keep it as a pet — might bite to protect itself. There have been a few times when skunks have bitten people. Such bites can sometimes lead to a disease called rabies. In 2006, health experts in the United States reported that skunks caused about 21.5% of all rabies cases that year. Skunks are not as common carriers of rabies as raccoons, though this can differ depending on where you are in the United States.

As pets

The striped skunk, known as Mephitis mephitis, is the friendliest kind and the one most often kept as a pet. In the United States, 17 states allow skunks to be kept as pets. When skunks are kept as pets, their scent glands are often removed through surgery.

In the United Kingdom, skunks may also be kept as pets, but it is against the law to remove their scent glands.