The skunk is not adapted to hunt for large or rapid prey, such as, for example, rabbits or birds. He is content with small invertebrates, rodents, shrews, frogs, lizards and shrimps. On occasion, he can catch a rabbit, and also misses eggs or fallen.
Its menu includes not only animal food. With the onset of summer skunk with pleasure eats wild berries and fruits. From spring to early summer, it feeds mainly on animals, then goes to plant food. In autumn, fruits, seeds, herbs and leaves replace insects, the number of which falls with the onset of cold weather.
Skunk hunts in the evening and at night, using the gut and hearing. He digs his nose in the ground or in fallen leaves, turns the front paws stones and bark. To catch the found fly, it stretches out on the ground, and then jumps on the rodent.
On summer nights, when the skunk preys on grasshoppers or beetles, it jumps on two front paws, pressing the victim. Burning caterpillars or toads with poisonous skin the animal rolls on the ground to tear skin or hair from them. Any prey is skunted immediately on the spot. He also regularly checks his excrement in order to catch insects of coprophage.
He attacks houses of domestic and wild bees, eating indiscriminately honey, larvae and bees themselves, and their bites do not bother him at all.
The striped skunk adores the eggs. To break the egg, he clamps his front paws and throws it back, hoping that it will break against something solid. The same movements can be seen in African mongoose.
