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For most of the year the normal home range for skunks is 0.5 to 2 miles (1 to 3 km) in diameter, with males expanding during breeding season to travel 4 to 5 miles (6 to 8 km) per night. [8] Skunks are not true hibernators in the winter, but do den up for extended periods of time.
These baby skunks are called kits. [5] At birth, the young are blind and almost hairless, weighing around 11 g (0.39 oz). [16] At around 4 or 5 months of age, young females become sexually mature and the cycle starts again. [5] Western spotted skunks have lived for almost ten years in captivity. [17]
Although skunks don't hibernate, they may experience extended periods of sleep during winter, an occurrence that has been less pronounced due to milder temperatures.
Eastern spotted skunks usually breed in March or April and give birth in late May or early June. [9] On average the female skunk gives birth to 4–5 baby skunks (kits) at a time. It takes twelve weeks before newborn skunks will become fully developed into adult skunks and two months before they develop skunk musk to use as self-defense.
Usually beginning in February and ending in March, skunk mating season is roughly two months long. According to Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control, the mating season may be premature or delayed ...
The newborn skunks are covered with fine hair that shows the adult color pattern. The eyes open between 30 and 32 days. [12] The kits start solid food at about 42 days and are weaned at about two months. [8] They are full grown and reach adult size at about four months. The males do not help in raising the young.
According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, skunks and coyotes are more active during the spring as they search for mates. They also may venture out of their typical ranges to do so.
Striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis) Mephitidae is a family of mammals in the order Carnivora, which comprises the skunks and stink badgers. A member of this family is called a mephitid. The skunks of the family are widespread across the Americas, while the stink badgers are in the Greater Sunda Islands of southeast Asia. Species inhabit a ...