108 Order CARNIV'ORA 



too close, the scent glands, with nozzles properly focused, go 

 into action. 



The striped skunk eats whatever suitable food is most readily 

 available. In winters it feeds on hibernating insects, mice, and 

 fruits. In the warmer seasons, it feeds heavily on berries and 

 other fruits, eggs, insects, mice, and some of the smaller birds 

 and snakes. At any season it may become a carrion eater and 

 probably includes in its diet many animals killed on highways. 

 This skunk may den up and sleep during the coldest days of 

 winter, but it never truly hibernates, as do some of the bats, the 

 woodchuck, or the ground squirrels. 



Young of the skunk are born in late spring and number 4 to 

 10 per litter. Within a single litter, they may show much varia- 

 tion in the amount of white on the back; some may be "black?" 

 and others "broad stripes." Although the young are blind and 

 helpless at birth, they grow rapidly and are hunting by July. 



Signs. — The prints of the hind foot of the skunk are each 

 about 2i/? inches long and rarely show claw marks ; the prints 

 of the front feet are each about 2 inches long, broad, and fre- 

 quently show claw marks. The track, fig. 35, made by a skunk 

 traveling at a walk consists of a parallel arrangement of closely 

 spaced footprints on each side; that by a running animal consists 

 of sets of footprints arranged diagonally across the direction of 

 travel, and in each set prints of hind feet are on the outside. 



Droppings are about a half inch in diameter and frequently 

 contain insect parts, berry seeds, and fur. Diggings in leaf mold 

 or soft ground often indicate where a striped skunk has dug out 

 grubs or other insects or uncovered a mouse. 



Distribution. — The striped skunk is moderately common in 

 all counties of Illinois. Two subspecies are present. Mephitii 

 mephitis nigra (Peale & Beauvois) in the southern third and ex- 

 treme eastern parts of the state and M. m. avia Bangs in the 

 remainder of Illinois. The range of the species includes ap- 

 proximately the southern half of Canada, the United States 

 (except the southern tip of Florida), and northern Mexico. 



SPILOGALE PUTORIUS (Linnaeus) 



Spotted Skunk Civet Cat 



The spotted skunk is known from adjacent Iowa and Mis- 

 souri, and there is an unreliable 1910 sight record for this ani- 



