Skunked!

According to Chuck Fergus of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, our common skunk, the striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis), belongs to the family Mustelidae (weasels), which includes weasels, ferrets, martens, fishers, mink, otters and badgers. Three other skunk species live in the United States: hooded and hognose skunks inhabit the southwest; and the spotted skunk, which is found over much of the country, except in the east, where it is only rarely found north to southcentral Pennsylvania.

A skunk can shoot musk about twelve feet, but will use it as only a last resort, preferring, instead, to bluff an enemy. If threatened, a skunk drums its forefeet on the ground, snarls, arches its back and raises its tail. It can spray in any direction by twisting its rump toward the target. And, contrary to popular opinion, it can discharge when hoisted by the tail.

Striped skunks are omnivorous. What they eat depends on where they live and what's available. In summer, they feed heavily on insects -- adult and larval forms -- including grasshoppers, crickets, beetles and wasps. (Pest insects eaten: potato bugs, tobacco worms and Japanese beetles.)

Skunks dig out ground nesting bees/wasps and scratch at the entrances of beehives, catching and eating any honeybees that fly out. Frequently they leave evidence of their feeding: small, cone-shaped holes in the soil, pine needles, leaf duff or suburban lawns mark where they've dug for grubs. Other summer foods: spiders, toads, frogs, lizards, snakes, mice, chipmunks and the eggs of turtles and ground-nesting birds.

In fall and winter, skunks eat fruit such as wild grapes and cherries; small mammals such as moles, mice, voles and shrews; plant items such as leaves and buds; mast and carrion. Chiefly nocturnal, they hunt from dusk until dawn.

Photo courtesy of the Pennsylvania Game Commission. Read Chuck Fergus' complete article on the Pa. Game Commission website.

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