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Animals · Woods and fields of North America

Striped skunk

Mephitis mephitis

It warns you before it fires

A striped skunk with its tail raised and its front feet planted, the warning that comes before any spray.
A striped skunk with its tail raised and its front feet planted, the warning that comes before any spray.
  • Status: Safe
  • Fields, woodland edges and farmland across the United States and southern Canada

Numbers

Weight
8 lbfrom 4 to 10 lb; some reach 12 lb
Length
25 intotal body length, from 20 to 30 in
Musk per gland
0,5 oztwo glands, one on each side
Weight lost in winter
50 %living on fat reserves
Walked in a night
2,5 mimales looking for females

Ten fun facts

  1. a skunk stamps its front feet and hisses before spraying, and most animals leave at that point.

  2. each of its two glands holds about half an ounce of musk, and refilling them takes days.

  3. the musk is built from thiols, sulfur compounds the nose can detect in astonishingly small amounts.

  4. the spray is oily, which is why plain water will not wash it out of fur or clothes.

  5. sprayed into the eyes the musk burns for a while, but it does no lasting damage at all.

  6. its black and white pattern is not camouflage but a warning, meant to be seen and remembered.

  7. the great horned owl hunts skunks freely, because it has almost no sense of smell to offend.

  8. in cold weather it lives off its fat and can lose half its body weight before spring.

  9. the front feet carry five long curved claws for digging; the back ones are short and straight.

  10. a male looking for a mate may walk two and a half miles in a single night.

The quiz answers

The first one is the question printed in your book: here is the answer. The other four are extra.

Question 1 of 5★ this one is in your book

What does a skunk do before it sprays?

Question 2 of 5

Why does water alone not wash off skunk musk?

Question 3 of 5

Why is the great horned owl able to hunt skunks?

Question 4 of 5

What is the skunk's black and white pattern for?

Question 5 of 5

How much weight can a skunk lose over winter?

Try it yourself

Experiment 1

Rub a drop of cooking oil onto a plate and try to wash it off with cold water alone. Skunk musk is oily in the same way.

Experiment 2

Measure two and a half miles on a map from your front door. A male skunk covers that in one night looking for a mate.

Experiment 3

Weigh yourself, then work out half that number. A skunk that has spent a hard winter on its fat reserves has lost exactly that share.

Data from Wikidata (Q368495) and Wikipedia (Striped skunk).