Animal · United States, Canada, Mexico
Striped skunk
Mephitis mephitis — the name this animal has in the language scientists everywhere share.
The striped skunk is a cat-sized black mammal with two white stripes down its back and a spray so foul it can be smelled far away. It only sprays as a last resort, after stamping its feet and lifting its tail as a warning.
Picture credit: Dan & Lin Dzurisin (CC BY 2.0) · Ryan Hodnett (CC BY-SA 4.0) · USFWS Mountain-Prairie (CC BY 2.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where does the striped skunk live?
Home: Fields, woodland edges and gardens across North America.
In the wild it lives in these countries: the United States, Canada, Mexico.
Conservation status from the IUCN: not in danger.
The short profile
Fully grown: 52-77 cm long including the tail. It weighs about 3.5 kilograms. On the menu: both plants and meat.
The story behind it
A skunk carries two small glands under its tail, each holding about a spoonful of oily musk. Before it uses them it gives plenty of warning: it stamps its front feet, hisses and raises its tail high. If the warning is ignored it can aim the spray several metres, usually at the face, where the smell stings the eyes and clings to fur and clothes for days. Skunks are not fussy eaters. Beetles, grasshoppers, caterpillars and worms make up much of their food, along with mice, eggs, berries and whatever people leave outside. In winter they doze in a den, often several females together, living off the fat they stored in autumn.
Find it on the globe
Striped skunk is there as a tiny animated figure that breathes and looks around. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.
It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.
Questions children ask
Why do skunks smell so bad?
The smell comes from an oily liquid made in two glands under the tail. It is full of sulphur compounds, the same sort of chemicals that make rotten eggs stink, and it sticks to fur and clothes for days.
How far can a skunk spray?
A striped skunk can aim its spray several metres and usually goes for the face. It carries only enough for about five or six shots and needs days to refill, so it warns first and sprays only when it must.
Are skunks dangerous to people?
Skunks are not aggressive and would much rather walk away than fight. The spray is horrible but does no lasting harm; the real reason to keep your distance is that skunks can carry rabies.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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