Skunk
| Skunks | |
|---|---|
| |
| Striped skunks | |
Scientific classification
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Superfamily: | Musteloidea |
| Family: | Mephitidae |
| Groups included | |
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| Skunk genera ranges | |
| Cladistically included but traditionally excluded taxa | |
A skunk is a mammal, usually black with a white stripe on its back and a fluffy tail. Skunks are also able can be brown or gray. Its most special part is that it can shoot out a bad-smelling spray from under its tail; it does this to scare away things that could hurt it.
It can eat both plants and small animals like earthworms, frogs, snakes, birds and eggs. It usually eats berries, leaves, grasses and nuts. In places where humans live, skunks often steal food from garbage or pet bowls.
The striped skunk is the most well-known kind of skunk. It weighs 2.5 to 14 pounds (1.2–6.3 kg) with a body length (without the tail) of 13 to 18 inches (33–46 cm). The tail is 7 to 10 inches long (18–25 cm), and sometimes has a white tip.
Most types of skunk live in the United States and Canada, but there are also types that live in Indonesia and the Philippines.
There are ten living species of skunks in four genera: Conepatus (hog-nosed skunks, four species); Mephitis (the hooded and striped skunks, two species) and Spilogale (spotted skunks, four species). All wild skunks inhabit the Americas, ranging from Canada to central South America.
Some people keep skunks as pets, but not everyone agrees if this is a good idea. Because the skunk’s spray would ruin furniture (the bad smell is almost impossible to remove) and the smell would affect other people, the skunk’s glands (the organs that produce the spray) are removed. However, professionals think that this harms the skunk, so in many places this is illegal. Because of this, in many places it is illegal to keep a skunk as a pet.
