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The claws also help with pinning down live and active prey. [14] Skunks are one of the primary predators of the honeybee, relying on their thick fur to protect them from stings. The skunk scratches at the front of the beehive and eats the guard bees that come out to investigate. [15] Mother skunks are known to teach this behavior to their young.
Striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis) Mephitidae is a family of mammals in the order Carnivora, which comprises the skunks and stink badgers. A member of this family is called a mephitid. The skunks of the family are widespread across the Americas, while the stink badgers are in the Greater Sunda Islands of southeast Asia. Species inhabit a ...
The western spotted skunk's unique black and white pattern of spots and stripes and its small size differentiate them from regular striped skunks. [5] As with other related species, western spotted skunks possess a pair of large musk glands that open just inside the anus, and which can spray their contents through muscular action. The musk is ...
They are monogamous breeders, meaning once a mate is found, the pair typically remains together until one of them dies, in which case the survivor seeks out a new partner. Litters are born in ...
Mephitidae is a family of mammals comprising the skunks and stink badgers. They are noted for the great development of their anal scent glands, which they use to deter predators. Skunks were formerly classified as a subfamily of the Mustelidae (the weasel family); however, in the 1990s, genetic evidence caused skunks to be treated as a separate ...
Western spotted skunks have wider white stripes on their backs and a white-tipped tail. They are small, weighing only 14 ounces to 2 pounds. When they feel threatened, they don't hide.
The earliest fossil finds attributable to Mephitis were found in the Broadwater site in Nebraska, dating back to the early Pleistocene less than 1.8 million years ago. By the late Pleistocene (70,000–14,500 years ago), the striped skunk was widely distributed throughout the southern United States, and it expanded northwards and westwards by the Holocene (10,000–4,500 years ago) following ...
The two major thiols of the striped skunks, (E)-2-butene-1-thiol and 3-methyl-1-butanethiol are the major components in the secretion of the spotted skunks along with a third thiol, 2-phenylethanethiol. [13] Thioacetate derivatives of the three thiols are present in the spray of the striped skunks but not the spotted skunks.