Skunks

Every Minnesotan sooner or later gets a whiff of the striped skunk's calling card. The skunk is only the size of a house cat, but few wild animals are willing to tangle with the skunk and its obnoxious odor. Only the great horned owl is unruffled by the skunk's chemical warfare.

Skunks are omnivorous but seem to prefer insects and their larvae, mice, carrion, and eggs. They may invade farmyards and buildings, but usually do more good than harm by living largely on mice and rats. Still, they have been known to kill roosting chickens.

Striped skunks winter in burrows. In spring, females give birth to four to six naked, blind, and helpless young. Though the skin sports only a light fuzz, the white stripes can already be seen on the black skin.

Skunks are intelligent and usually good natured. They also have a certain beauty about them -- their hair is long and glistening, and the stripes which run down each side of the animal brilliantly accent the ink-black hair. Despite their gentle manner, skunks can be deadly simply because they are often carriers of rabies. In fact, rabies is more common in striped skunks than in any other Minnesota mammal.

The striped skunk lives throughout the state, but is most common along the western border and least common in the northeast.

The spotted skunk is more active than its striped counterpart. It is at home not only on the ground, but also in trees where it searches for food or escapes from pursuers. Preferred foods are insects, small mammals, especially rats, and fruits, though birds, carrion, corn, and other items are eaten.

The black fur of the spotted skunk is punctuated by broken white stripes up front which break into smaller splotches toward the rear. Weighing from one to three pounds at maturity, the spotted skunk is much smaller than the striped.

The spotted skunk lives in open country throughout southern Minnesota and as far as the Canadian border in the northwest.