Until recently, predatory mammals from the family, skunk scientists were referred to as kunim, that is, the nearest relatives of skunks were ferrets, otters, martens, mink, badgers, etc. Recently, molecular studies have shown that the closest relative The animals are the red panda, the only existing member of the pandas family. More fascinating stories will tell 10 facts about skunks.
Skunk is fairly easy to recognize by its black and white coloration. For these animals is characterized by the presence of wide white bands, going from the head to the tip of the tail.
Skunks have a bad reputation because of the corrosive substance with a persistent unpleasant odor, secreted by the anal glands. This secret skunks can squirt up to a distance of 6 m, but they do it only for self-defense and with a warning – at first the skunk raises its tail and stomps its feet, warning the enemy that he still has a chance to escape.
The claws of the skunks are quite powerful, because they are designed to dig holes. Some skunks are able to nimbly climb trees.
The smallest representatives of the family are spotted skunks, their mass ranges from 200 g to 1 kg, and the biggest are piglets skunks, reaching a mass of 4.5 kg.
Until 1997 it was believed that skunks live only in South and North America, but then the family was ranked and smelly badgers living in Indonesia.
Although skunks do not go into hibernation, on especially cold days they are inactive and do not leave their burrows. These animals hibernate in groups, or rather “harem”, when in a group of 10-12 females there is only one male.
Males of skunks are very bad fathers. They not only do not take part in caring for their offspring, but they can also kill babies.
Since skunks are omnivorous predators, they play an important role in the ecosystem, as they also eat rodents and insects, among other things.
Female spotted skunks and those that live in the northern regions, there is a feature – they are able to suspend pregnancy to 250 or more days. This is called the phase of delayed implantation.
In addition to caustic secret, skunks have one more protection from enemies – they have strong immunity to snake venom.
