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In settled areas, skunks also seek garbage left by humans. Less often, skunks may be found acting as scavengers, eating bird and rodent carcasses left by cats or other animals. Pet owners, particularly those of cats, may experience a skunk finding its way into a garage or basement where pet food is kept.
If it seems these animals are appearing more often lately, you aren’t seeing things – spring is mating season for coyotes and skunks, and these creatures are out and about in search of mates.
The earliest fossil finds attributable to Mephitis were found in the Broadwater site in Nebraska, dating back to the early Pleistocene less than 1.8 million years ago. By the late Pleistocene (70,000–14,500 years ago), the striped skunk was widely distributed throughout the southern United States, and it expanded northwards and westwards by the Holocene (10,000–4,500 years ago) following ...
The diet of the hooded skunk consists mostly of vegetation, especially prickly pear (Opuntia spp.), but it will readily consume insects, small vertebrates, fruit, bird eggs, and human garbage as well. [4] [8] Hooded skunks in Costa Rica utilize their forelimbs to throw bird eggs between their hindlegs, in order to break the eggs open. [8]
Striped skunks weigh between 200g–6 kg (7 ounces–14 pounds) and have an average lifespan of 3 years. They are easily adaptable animals that live in forests, woodlands and grasslands. These mesocarnivores can be easily recognized by their black fur with a thin white stripe from their nose to their forehead.
The hair on these skunks is coarse and harsh, lacking the qualities which render the coats of their northern relatives so valuable. They are nocturnal. [5] Before the merge of the American hog-nosed skunks, the eastern hog-nosed skunk, Conepatus leuconotus is typically larger than the western hog-nosed skunk, Conepatus mesoleucus. Female ...
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 ...
During the day, it burrows into the brush or sleeps in the burrows of other animals. [10] Most often, striped polecats are found in habitats with large ungulate populations, because of the lower level of shrubs where these grazers occur. [2] [4] [11] After conception, the gestation period for a striped polecat is about 4 weeks. During this time ...