Tube sock-like skunk covers more ground than deer, impacted by winter weather, study finds

by Sean Nealon, Oregon State University
October 14, 2024

A study in the Cascade Range in Oregon of a tiny, elusive skunk found the animal can cover more ground than deer and is sensitive to climate change, particularly severe winter weather.

The research is important because small mammals such as the western spotted skunk face major threats from human-induced land use change, said Marie Tosa, who as an Oregon State University graduate student spent 2½ years studying the skunks. Her findings provide data to shape future skunk monitoring efforts and identify threats they face.

The western spotted skunk, which typically weighs 1 to 2 pounds and is about the size of a squirrel, is smaller than the striped skunk that is common in urban environments.

“The easiest way to describe them is a tube sock,” said Tosa, who is now a postdoctoral researcher at Oregon State. “They’re a black and white tube sock. They are mostly black but they have white spots all over them. They have this giant white spot on their forehead. And they’re really, really adorable.”

The western spotted skunk prefers more undisturbed habitat, such as mountainous areas, and is nocturnal, so it is rarely seen. Yet it lives in areas from New Mexico to British Columbia and California to Colorado.

“For such an abundant carnivore in these forests, we don’t really know anything about them,” said Taal Levi, an associate professor at Oregon State’s College of Agricultural Sciences and advisor to Tosa. “This project was trying to figure out more about them: trying to learn about their natural history; what they do in these forests; what do they need; how do they influence the ecosystem that they are in.”

Keep reading: https://news.oregonstate.edu/news/tube-sock-skunk-covers-more-ground-deer-impacted-winter-weather-study-finds

Read the Ecosphere paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ecs2.4981