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Project Noah Nature School
Mephitis mephitis
"Widespread throughout North America, the striped skunk has a black body with a white stripe along each side of its body; the two stripes join into a broader white area at the nape. Its forehead has a narrow white stripe. The presence of a striped skunk is often first made apparent by its odor. It has well-developed anal scent glands (characteristic of all skunks) that can emit a highly unpleasant odor when the skunk feels threatened by another animal."
Three striped skunks in a row spotted at Shubenacadie Wildlife Park.
Spotted on Sep 29, 2011
Submitted on Sep 29, 2011
4 Comments
Well that's a new one to me-like giraffes and zebras;learn something new everyday. Thanks, Karen.
Oh, I see! Thank you so much for the info... I have a feeling I will be sharing it with quite a few people when I'm at the park again!
Striped skunks all have individual patterns & even litter mates can be quite dissimilar in markings. We see several here & one is almost entirely white on top - http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/708... whilst the others have more typical markings.
Notice the one in the middle has significantly thicker white stripes than the other two. Perhaps it's because he is younger? If anyone who knows why could explain, I'd appreciate it. :)