Striped Skunk (Mephitis mephitis), Hooded Skunk (Mephitis macroura), & Hognosed Skunk (Conopatus leuconotis)

Main sources: Nowak, Ronald, 1991, Walker's Mammals of the world, Fifth Edition (two vols.), Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press; Hoffmeister, D. F., 1986, Mammals of Arizona, Tucson: University of Arizona Press; Burt, W. & R. Grossenheider, eds., 1976, A Field Guide to the Mammals, Peterson Field Guides: Houghton Mifflin;

[Note: for an overview of the distinctive characteristics of skunks, look under "Mephitidae" in Mammals.]

Striped Skunk (Mephitis mephitis)

The most common and widespread skunk in North America (its distributional affiliation is northerly, extending into Canada), it is generally familiar to humans. Larger than Spotted Skunks, at 6-14 lbs in weight, it has a black body, narrow white line up the mid-forehead, and a broad white area on the nape, dividing (usually) into a V at the shoulders (Burt & Grossheider, cited above, p. 65). In our photographic record, we find only one relatively unambiguous image fitting this description, taken in July of 1998 at the Lower Cottonwood Seep off Hot Springs Canyon:

This image, taken at a considerable distance with this old film camera, nevertheless shows the black body and the vertical white forehead stripe fairly clearly, so we may (initially anyway) infer that it is indeed a Striped Skunk.

These relatively large-bodied skunks are found in a wide variety of habitats (woods, grasslands, and deserts). They are mainly nocturnal (but are often seen in early morning or late evening), spending days in burrows (or any dry, sheltered spot), and are generally solitary. They eat a variety of rodents and insects as well as vegetation -- are very opportunistic in their feeding. They are active all year round in our area.

Hooded Skunk (Mephitis macroura)

After discarding our infra-red film camera operations of the late 1990s (far too many useless results, disovered after too much delay in getting film developed), yet more recently wanting to document our wildlife in greater detail, we obtained in late 2008 an HCO Scout Guard IR Camera 5MP Series SG550, a good-quality digital infrared camera that takes images both in color (by daylight) and black-and-white (at night). Using this camera (as well as an older one, also digital but showing color at night with a flash attachment), we have obtained many more images, gathering them from both lower Hot Springs Canyon and along the San Pedro River near Cascabel. Nearly all the skunks revealed so far in these images appear to be Hooded Skunks, though Burt & Grossheider observe that "This skunk barely enters s. U.S." (ibid.). Clearly the general distribution of this skunk is southerly (it reaches all the way to Costa Rica). A couple of the images below may however show Hognosed Skunks (whose distribution is also southerly).

According to both Walker (cited above) & Burt & Grossenheider, Hooded Skunks appear in two distinct color varieties (with intermediate transitions), which initially gave us as interpreters some difficulty, and moreover the Hognose Skunk overlaps one of these in coloration, so the populations seem complex.

The first variant is distinct from the Striped Skunk in that it is nearly all black (from head-tip to tail-tip), it has two white side-stripes, and its tail is very long:

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The image at left above was captured in lower Hot Springs Canyon in late December 2008; the one at right along the San Pedro in January 2009.

The second variant shows a back that is chiefly white, including its very long tail:

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This skunk, photographed along the San Pedro River in January 2007, clearly shows this pattern, as does this one from lower Hot Springs Canyon photographed in lower Hot Springs Canyon in late December 2008:

Here the length of the tail appears truly phenomenal.

The third variant we think may represent the

Hognosed Skunk (Conopatus leuconotis)

Burt & Grossheider (p.68) describe this skunk as follows: the "entire back and tail are white and the lower sides and belly are black", while the animal's name is given by virtue of its "long and piglike snout that is naked for about 1 inch (25mm) on top." Its tail is shorter than that of the Hooded Skunk.

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This animal does appear to have a more protruding (and "naked-looking"?) snout than the others we have seen here, but Burt & Grossheider also observe that "Fur is short and coarse", which hardly fits this creature. So maybe it is another of the white-back variant of the Hooded Skunk? -- except that its tail is too short. Perhaps there is a lot of variety in each of these species? We will have to hope for further images.

For now, anyway, it appears that our Cascabel-area skunk-affiliations are primarily in the direction of the latin American breeds.