Skunks are reluctant chemical warriors, however. With acrobatic aplomb, a spotted skunk displays its “back off” stance, a threat to warn away attackers (right). Spray victims are likely to approach (or avoid) every other skunk they meet with the caution such repulsive lessons inspire. After being sprayed once or twice, predators learn that attacking a skunk is a very bad idea, Stankowich says. Gagging, pain in the sensitive membranes of the nose and mouth, even temporary blindness can result from a direct hit. For its most intense, targeted attack, a skunk twists into a U-shape so that both eyes and rump confront the threat, then aims a stream of noxious liquid right at its enemy’s face. Flexible nipples flanking the anus precisely control the spray.Ī skunk may emit a mere whiff of odor to repel a minor annoyance or, when fleeing a predator it can’t see, release a cloud of foul musk that can stop a pursuer in its tracks.
Powerful muscles surrounding the sacks can pump out the oily liquid forcefully enough to douse a target more than 10 feet away. But in skunks these glands have evolved into a potent chemical weapon.Ībout the size of big grapes, the anal glands of a striped skunk each hold almost an ounce of concentrated musk, enough for multiple blasts.
All carnivores have anal glands that produce smelly secretions used to mark territory, attract mates and issue other aromatic messages. These far-flung cousins have a lot in common, notably the olfactory defenses that make them nearly predator proof. Two other species live on islands in the Philippines and Indonesia. Southwest to southernmost Argentina and Peru. Hooded and hog-nosed skunks occupy ranges from the U.S. Spotted skunks are fewer in number and smaller-about squirrel sized-but they’re almost as widespread as striped skunks in the United States. These house-cat-sized animals have adapted to habitats from wilderness and farmland to industrial parks and housing developments. Inspiration for cartoon icons such as Looney Tunes’ Pepé Le Pew and Bambi’s friend Flower, striped skunks flourish across the continental United States at average densities of five to 13 animals per square mile and range from southern Canada to northern Mexico. gardens is Mephitis mephitis, the striped skunk. Of the world’s 12 known species, the one most likely to stroll through U.S. While few of us will study legions of skunks, the odds are good that most of us will cross paths with the famously funky beasts at some point. “We are just beginning to understand how they perceive natural dangers and how they use the signals and defenses in their arsenal to diffuse most threatening situations.” Abundant and Adaptable He’s “amazed at how seemingly carefree” skunks are. Gehrt continues to mine the wealth of data he gathered and says the popular conception of skunks that starts and ends with “stinky” doesn’t begin to do them justice.Īnother skunk researcher, biologist Ted Stankowich at California State University–Long Beach, leads a laboratory that uses both field studies and chemical and statistical analyses to investigate the evolution of defensive strategies in mammals. From 1999 to 2005, he captured 146 Chicago-area skunks and radio-collared 90 of them for long-term tracking. Gehrt is fascinated by the survival tactics and social interactions of skunks, coyotes and other carnivores that share our urban and suburban neighborhoods in often surprising numbers. “It was hilarious,” says Ohio State University biologist Stan Gehrt, “watching this little animal standing on top of a dead buck, holding a pack of coyotes at bay. One darts in to snatch a bite, then scrambles back, intimidated. They approach, stop, retreat and split up, circling the meal. IN A WOODED AREA of metropolitan Chicago, three coyotes prowl around a deer carcass. “The skunk was not spraying the fox, but the fox did not enjoy the aroma,” says Rolland Gelly, who caught the scene in a park in Montreal, Canada.
Do racoons eat skunks full#
Reeking reputation aside, skunks are full of surprisesīody language says it all as a striped skunk nonchalantly emits a whiff to warn off a fox, who takes the hint.
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