Striped Skunk

Just about anywhere!  Striped skunks make a living throughout North America, from southern Canada into northern Mexico. They are quite at home in a variety of landscapes, from wooded areas to grasslands and agriculture fields, and even in urban areas, among humans. They may be found in open, exposed areas, though they seek cover in brushy, weedy stream and gulch bottoms or canyons. Pasture, farmland, and hay crops, especially along fence lines, are also utilized. According to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, striped skunks do best at elevations below 5,900 feet (1,800 meters). While they do not hibernate, skunks in northern latitudes may lapse into a state of torpor during cold snaps or when the snow is deep.

Good cover and abundant food make for a suitable home range, and they avoid crossing busy roads, which may confine some home ranges. Where resources are plentiful, striped skunks have smaller home ranges. In northern climes, they travel far less in the winter. Researchers have noted home ranges anywhere from 0.31 to 7.4 square miles (0.5 to 12 square kilometers). Striped skunks are seldom found far from water sources, indicating that they need to drink regularly. When swimming, which is an uncommon event, they keep their head and tail above water and paddle to shore, eating fish and crustaceans if they happen upon them.

Home again.  Skunks nest in burrows made by other wildlife, like marmots or badgers. They also take refuge under logs, in hollowed out trees, in rock or brush piles, and under buildings. They may dig their own den, if necessary. Female skunks are clever enough to den under fence lines, where they are safe from farm machinery. In winter, females may share a communal den to stay warm. Skunks may even seek shelter under your house. As long as your pet doesn’t frighten the skunk, your garden will benefit from its voracious omnivorous appetite!   

Midnight at the oasis.  Skunks are crepuscular and nocturnal. They head out in search of food, while watching out for a laundry list of predators, including humans, coyotes, domestic dogs, red foxes, lynx, bobcats, badgers, mountain lions, and fishers. Aerial predators include eagles, great horned owls, crows, and vultures (who feed on skunks after they’re dead). Between copious predators and a host of diseases including canine distemper and West Nile Virus, among many others, and the fact that skunks harbor numerous ectoparasites and endoparasites—including fleas, ticks, and lice—it’s no wonder they typically die young. In fact, a large percentage of skunks in any population consists of the young of the year. They rarely perish of old age.

That said, skunks are a resilient lot, flexible in habit and diet, and not afraid to shack up next to humans.

How do you like your eggs?  Nocturnal, flexible opportunistic feeders that are not picky, skunks enjoy seasonal insects in the spring and summer—crickets, beetles, grasshoppers and other arthropods. They are also voracious consumers of bird eggs, so the progeny of ground-nesting birds suffer mightily at the jaws of skunks (and raccoons). Skunks use long foreclaws to dig insects and grubs out of logs, as well as your garden.

Its diet shifts to meat in fall and winter, with small mammals, ground-nesting hatchlings, as well as fish, reptiles, and amphibians on the menu. They will happily devour any pet food left outside, too. As the editors of Handbook of the Mammals of the World declared, “With the exception of lima beans, they will eat just about anything.” Skunks are awesome opportunistic omnivores!

In zoos, they feast on leafy greens, veggies, and insects as mainstays, with mice, eggs, nuts, and fruits to round out their cuisine.