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Skunk

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For other uses, see Skunk (disambiguation).

Skunks
Striped skunk
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Mammalia
Order:
Carnivora
Suborder:
Caniformia
Superfamily:
Musteloidea
Family:
Mephitidae (in part, see text)

Bonaparte, 1845
Genera

Conepatus
Mydaus
Mephitis (type)
Spilogale

Skunk genera ranges

Skunks (also called polecats in America) are mammals known for their ability to spray a liquid with a strong odor. Different species of skunk vary in appearance from black-and-white to brown or cream colored, but all have warning coloration.

Etymology

The word "polecat" (with "pole" from either the French poule "duncn stinks" or puant "stinking"), which in Europe refers to the wild relatives of the ferret, has been attested in the New World to refer to the skunk since the 1680s.[1] The word "squunck" is attested in New England in the 1630s, probably borrowed from Abenaki seganku[2] or another Algonquian language, with the Proto-Algonquian form */šeka:kwa/ being a compound of the roots */šek-/ meaning 'to urinate' and */-a:kw/ meaning 'fox'.[3] The name of the family and of the most common genus (Mephitidae, Mephitis) means "stench", while Spilogale putorius means "stinking spotted weasel".[citation needed]

Physical description

Skunk species vary in size from about 15.6 to 37 in (40 to 94 cm) and in weight from about 1.1 lb (0.50 kg) (spotted skunks) to 18 lb (8.2 kg) (hog-nosed skunks). They have moderately elongated bodies with relatively short, well-muscled legs, and long front claws for digging.

Although the most common fur color is black and white, some skunks are brown or grey, and a few are cream-colored. All skunks are striped, even from birth. They may have a single thick stripe across back and tail, two thinner stripes, or a series of white spots and broken stripes (in the case of the spotted skunk). Some also have stripes on their legs.

Diet

Skunks are omnivorous, eating both plant and animal material and changing their diets as the seasons change. They eat insects and larvae, earthworms, grubs, small rodents, lizards, salamanders, frogs, snakes, birds, moles, and eggs. They also commonly eat berries, roots, leaves, grasses, fungi, and nuts.

In settled areas, skunks also seek human garbage. 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. Skunks commonly dig holes in lawns in search of grubs and worms.

Skunks are one of the primary predators of the honeybee, relying on their thick fur to protect them from stings. The skunk scratches at the front of the beehive and eats the guard bees that come out to investigate. Mother skunks are known to teach this behavior to their young.

Behavior

Skunks are crepuscular and solitary animals when not breeding, though in the colder parts of their range, they may gather in communal dens for warmth. During the day, they shelter in burrows which they can dig with their powerful front claws. Males and females occupy overlapping home ranges through the greater part of the year, typically 2 to 4 km2 (0.77 to 1.54 sq mi) for females and up to 20 km2 (7.7 sq mi) for males.

Skunks are not true hibernators in the winter, but do den up for extended periods of time. However, they remain generally inactive and feed rarely, going through a dormant stage. Over winter, multiple females (as many as 12) huddle together; males often den alone. Often, the same winter den is repeatedly used.

Although they have excellent senses of smell and hearing, they have poor vision, being unable to see objects more than about 3 m (10 ft) away, making them vulnerable to death by road traffic. They are short-lived; their lifespan in the wild is no more than three years, with most living only up to a year.[4][5] In captivity, they may live for up to 15 years.[4][5]

Reproduction

File:Baby skunk.jpg
A striped skunk kit

Skunks mate in early spring and are polygynous, meaning that successful males mate with more than one female. Before giving birth (usually in May), the female excavates a den to house her litter of four to seven kits. They are placental, with a gestation period of about 66 days.[6]

When born, skunk kits are blind, deaf, and covered in a soft layer of fur. About three weeks after birth, their eyes open. The kits are weaned about two months after birth, but generally stay with their mother until they are ready to mate, at about one year of age.

The mother is protective of her kits, spraying at any sign of danger. The male plays no part in raising the young.[citation needed]

Anal scent glands

The most notorious feature of skunks is their anal scent glands, which they can use as a defensive weapon. They are similar to, though much more developed than, the glands found in species of the Mustelidae family. Skunks have two glands, one on each side of the anus. These glands produce a mixture of sulfur-containing chemicals such as thiols, traditionally called mercaptans, which have a highly offensive smell that can be described as a combination of the odors of rotten eggs, garlic, and burnt rubber. The odor of the fluid is strong enough to ward off bears and other potential attackers, and can be difficult to remove from clothing. Muscles located next to the scent glands allow them to spray with a high degree of accuracy, as far as 3 m (10 ft).[7] The smell aside, the spray can cause irritation and even temporary blindness, and is sufficiently powerful to be detected by a human nose up to a mile down wind. Their chemical defense is effective, as illustrated by this extract from Charles Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle:

We saw also a couple of Zorrillos, or skunks—odious animals, which are far from uncommon. In general appearance, the Zorrillo resembles a polecat, but it is rather larger and much thicker in proportion. Conscious of its power, it roams by day about the open plain, and fears neither dog nor man. If a dog is urged to the attack, its courage is instantly checked by a few drops of the fetid oil, which brings on violent sickness and running at the nose. Whatever is once polluted by it, is for ever useless. Azara says the smell can be perceived at a league distant; more than once, when entering the harbour of Monte Video, the wind being off shore, we have perceived the odour on board the Beagle. Certain it is, that every animal most willingly makes room for the Zorrillo.[8]

File:Spottedskunk.jpg
Western spotted skunk, also called a zorrillo, which means "little fox" in Spanish

Skunks are reluctant to use this weapon, as they carry just enough of the chemical for five or six uses – about 15 cc – and require some ten days to produce another supply.[citation needed] Their bold black and white coloration make their appearance memorable. It is to a skunk's advantage to warn possible predators off without expending scent: black and white aposematic warning coloration aside, threatened skunks will go through an elaborate routine of hisses, foot-stamping, and tail-high deimatic or threat postures before resorting to spraying. Skunks usually do not spray other skunks, except among males in the mating season. If they fight over den space in autumn, they do so with teeth and claws.[citation needed]

Most predators of the Americas, such as wolves, foxes and badgers, seldom attack skunks, presumably out of fear of being sprayed. The exceptions are dogs, reckless predators whose attacks fail once they are sprayed, and the great horned owl, the animal's only serious predator, which has a poor-to-nonexistent sense of smell.[citation needed]

Skunks are common in suburban areas. Frequent encounters with dogs and other domestic animals, and the release of the odor when a skunk is run over, have led to many myths about the removal of skunk odor. Due to the chemical composition of the spray, most of these household remedies are ineffective,[9] except for remedies able to break down thiols.

As initially shown by Kenneth K. Andersen and coworkers[10][11][12] and more recently, and in more detail, by Wood and coworkers,[13][14] skunk spray is composed mainly of three low-molecular-weight thiol compounds, (E)-2-butene-1-thiol, 3-methyl-1-butanethiol, and 2-quinolinemethanethiol, as well as acetate thioesters of these. These compounds are detectable by the human nose at concentrations of only 10 parts per billion.[15][16]

Bites

It is rare for a healthy skunk to bite a human. While a domesticated skunk with its scent glands removed may defend itself by biting, there are few recorded incidents. The most prevalent cause of skunks biting humans is the rabies virus. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recorded 1,494 cases of rabies in skunks in the United States for the year 2006 — about 21.5% of reported cases in all species.[17][18] Skunks trail raccoons as vectors of rabies, although this varies regionally (raccoons dominate along the Atlantic coast and eastern Gulf of Mexico, skunks throughout the Midwest and down to the western Gulf, and in California). Despite this prevalence, the CDC attributes all recorded cases of human rabies from 1990–2002 to dogs or bats.[citation needed]

Domestication

Main article: Skunks as pets
A domesticated skunk

Mephitis mephitis, the striped skunk species, is the most social skunk and the one most commonly domesticated. When a skunk is kept as a pet, its scent glands are often surgically removed. Skunks can legally be kept as pets in the UK, but the Animal Welfare Act 2006[19] has made it illegal to remove their scent glands. The keeping of skunks as pets is illegal in some US states.[20]

Classification

Skunks, together with stink badgers, belong to the skunk family, the "Mephitidae",[21][22] which is in the order Carnivora. There are twelve species of mephitids, in four genera: Mephitis (the hooded and striped skunks, two species); Spilogale (spotted skunks, four species); Mydaus (stink badgers, two species); and Conepatus (hog-nosed skunks, four species). The two stink badgers in the genus Mydaus inhabit Indonesia and the Philippines; while the other members of the family inhabit the Americas, ranging from Canada to central South America. All other mephitids are extinct, known through fossils e.g. from Eurasia.[citation needed]

Skunks were formerly classified as a subfamily of the Mustelidae (the weasel family). However, recent genetic evidence has caused skunks to be treated as a separate family.[22] Similarly, the stink badgers had been classified with badgers, but genetic evidence shows they share a more recent common ancestor with skunks, so they are now included in the skunk family.[23][24] In alphabetical order, the living skunk species are:[25]

A hooded skunk skeleton on display at the Museum of Osteology

See also

References

  1. ^ "Polecat", Online Etymological Dictionary
  2. ^ A concise etymological dictionary of the English language, Walter William Skeat, Harper & Brothers, 1882, p. 440
  3. ^ "Skunk", Online Etymological Dictionary
  4. ^ a b ADW: Mephitis mephitis: INFORMATION. Animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu. Retrieved on 2012-04-05.
  5. ^ a b Virtual Nature Trail. Striped Skunk. The Pennsylvania State University (2002).
  6. ^ "Skunks Management Guidelines". UC Davis IPM.
  7. ^ Skunks, Skunk Pictures, Skunk Facts – National Geographic. Animals.nationalgeographic.com. Retrieved on 2012-04-05.
  8. ^ Darwin, Charles (1839). Voyage of the Beagle. London, England: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-043268-X. Retrieved June 27, 2006.
  9. ^ Is it true that tomato sauce will get rid of the smell of a skunk?. Scienceline. Retrieved on 2012-04-05.
  10. ^ Andersen K. K., Bernstein D. T. (1978). "Some Chemical Constituents of the Scent of the Striped Skunk (Mephitis mephitis)". Journal of Chemical Ecology. 1 (4): 493–499. doi:10.1007/BF00988589.
  11. ^ Andersen K. K., Bernstein D. T. (1978). "1-Butanethiol and the Striped Skunk". Journal of Chemical Education. 55 (3): 159–160. doi:10.1021/ed055p159.
  12. ^ Andersen K. K., Bernstein D. T., Caret R. L., Romanczyk L. J., Jr. (1982). "Chemical Constituents of the Defensive Secretion of the Striped Skunk (Mephitis mephitis)". Tetrahedron. 38 (13): 1965–1970. doi:10.1016/0040-4020(82)80046-X.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ Wood W. F., Sollers B. G., Dragoo G. A., Dragoo J. W. (2002). "Volatile Components in Defensive Spray of the Hooded Skunk, Mephitis macroura". Journal of Chemical Ecology. 28 (9): 1865–70. doi:10.1023/A:1020573404341. PMID 12449512.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ William F. Wood. "Chemistry of Skunk Spray". Dept. of Chemistry, Humboldt State University. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
  15. ^ William F. Wood (1999). "The History of Skunk Defensive Secretion Research" (PDF). Chem. Educator. 4 (2): 44–50. doi:10.1007/s00897990286a.
  16. ^ Aldrich, T.B. (1896). "A chemical study of the secretion of the anal glands of mephitis mephitica (common skunk), with remarks on the physiological properties of this secretion". J. Exp. Med. 1 (2): 323–340. doi:10.1084/jem.1.2.323. PMC 2117909. PMID 19866801.
  17. ^ Blanton J.D., Hanlon C.A., Rupprecht C.E. (2007). "Rabies surveillance in the United States during 2006". Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. 231 (4): 540–56. doi:10.2460/javma.231.4.540. PMID 17696853.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ "Rabies Surveillance US 2006" (PDF). U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  19. ^ "Animal Welfare Act 2006" (PDF). Retrieved December 5, 2009.
  20. ^ US states where skunks can be kept
  21. ^ Don E. Wilson & DeeAnn M. Reeder (2005). Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0.
  22. ^ a b Dragoo and Honeycutt; Honeycutt, Rodney L (1997). "Systematics of Mustelid-like Carnvores". Journal of Mammalogy. 78 (2). Journal of Mammalogy, Vol. 78, No. 2: 426–443. doi:10.2307/1382896. JSTOR 1382896.
  23. ^ Koepfli KP, Deere KA, Slater GJ; et al. (2008). "Multigene phylogeny of the Mustelidae: Resolving relationships, tempo and biogeographic history of a mammalian adaptive radiation". BMC Biol. 6: 4–5. doi:10.1186/1741-7007-6-10. PMC 2276185. PMID 18275614. {{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
  24. ^ Mammal Species of the World – Browse: Mephitidae. Bucknell.edu. Retrieved on 2012-04-05.
  25. ^ Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M., eds. (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Removal of Skunk Odor
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