Striped Skunk (Mephitis mephitis)

County List:

Rule:

Mixed Forested/Nonforested Landscapes

1st alternative:
      (Any Forested Upland (Any Size Class))
   adjacent to:
      Edge
   containing: 
      (Mast and (Man-made Structures or Dead Down Woody Debris))      

2nd alternative:
      Grass
      or Upland Brush
      or Savanna
      or Any Cropland
      or Residential
   containing: 
      (Mast and (Man-made Structures or Dead Down Woody Debris))

Habitat List:

view size class definitions

Literature:

Favored habitat is a mix of forest, fields, and wooded ravines, yet it also lives in areas of intense cultivation and suburban neighborhoods. It avoids dense stands of timber.

A stripped skunk is an opportunistic feeder, and its diet changes with the season. During spring and summer, this carnivore is primarily insectivorous consuming beetles, crickets, and grasshoppers. Later in the year, it adds corn and available fruits, such as mulberry, raspberry, black cherry, and grape. Other warm season foods include crayfish, worms, small mammals, birds, bird eggs, turtle eggs, and an occasional fish or frog. During the winter, it mostly feeds on small mammals, particularly the meadow vole.

Habitat: Semi-open country, woods and meadows, agricultural lands, suburban areas, and trash dumps. Occurs from sea level to timberline.

Special Habitat Requirements: Dens; may be under houses, stumps, in stone walls, rock cavities, or abandoned burrows.

Habitat Preference: The mosaic pattern of mixed agricultural and tree-cleared land and confined forest tracts, small woodlots, and riparian woody cover in close approximation to ponds, lakes, marshes, and streams makes most of Michigan ideal habitat for the striped skunk. The animal thrives also in suburban areas. Human land-use practices, especially agricultural pursuits, have provided early successional stages in old field and shrub areas bordering woodlands-environments which favor higher striped skunk populations today than in presettlement days. That the species is less common in extensive forest stands of today is evidence that forest removal has been favorable influence.

Behavior: Striped skunks center their activities around their den sites. Most often dens are excavations in the ground, but some are refuges under debris, buildings, stumps, or in woodpiles. Even though the animal has strong digging claws, it does not seem to excavate many of its own burrows.

There is some evidence that striped skunks prefer above-ground retreats (under buildings and debris, in logs, etc.) in lowland situations in summer and underground dens in well-drained upland places in winter. In extensive areas of marsh, however, poorly-drained den sites may be acceptable in winter.

Key Components of Habitat: Ecotones between forest/shrubland and agricultural lands; riparian areas in arid regions.

Management Actions to Enhance or Maintain Habitat Quality: Maintain woodlots in agricultural areas with minimal grazing or disturbance to ensure diversity of understory vegetation and foods; maintain shelterbelts and fencerows for cover and travel corridors; encourage establishment of fruit-producing shrubs and trees.

Habitat: There is no single well-defined land type that can be classed as skunk range. They live in a variety of habitats - woods, plains, and desert areas - but prefer open or forest-edge zones. Striped skunks are most abundant on agricultural lands where there is an ample supply of food and cover. They also adapt to life in urban areas under houses and garages. Skunks are usually absent where the water table is high, making ground dens impossible, but they have been known to inhabit poorly drained marsh areas. They seldom use unbroken forested areas where food supply is low.

Striped skunks tend to use a variety of dens during the year; natal or maternity dens, summer resting sites, winter solitary dens, and winter communal dens. The type of den or retreat used, which is directly related to the type of habitat available, is determined by the sex, age, social behavior, and physical condition of the animal.

There appears to be a seasonal shift in the use of dens or retreats between winter and nonwinter. Natal or maternity dens during nonwinter may be in underground burrows that have been excavated by woodchucks, badgers, red foxes, muskrats, or other skunks. Habitats associated with farmyards, such as areas under buildings or granaries, are also inhabited during the breeding and parturition period. Skunks use a variety of above ground resting sites during summer and early fall; these include croplands and areas along waterways, fencerows, and under buildings. After weaning, juvenile striped skunks often spend the daylight hours in areas such as cornfields and pastures. However, they usually do not remain in the open after mid-September.

During the fall there is a shift to more protective denning areas such as abandoned buildings, crevices, ground burrows, rock piles, and culverts. Several authors have noted the striped skunk's extensive use of buildings as winter denning sites. However, the striped skunk appears to be a highly adaptable animal and is capable of using just about any protective area as a denning site or habitat, as evidenced by the high numbers of animals now living in urban areas of southern Ontario.