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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.
While they do not engage in true hibernation, they may sleep for several weeks during the winter. [12] During this time, females may den in groups that have been observed as large as 20. [11] When threatened, western spotted skunks display threat behavior, stamping their fore-feet before raising their hind parts in the air and showing their ...
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.
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 ...
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.
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.