Abstract
We tracked a female eastern spotted skunk Spilogale putorius in North Carolina, USA, that gave birth to a litter of three kits in summer 2020. Using camera traps and radio-collars, we were able to monitor the movement and behaviors of the female and litter. We observed behaviors including food provisioning, play-fighting, and interspecific interactions. We tracked the movements of the kits past independence from their mother and documented dispersal events for two kits. This is the first known successful attempt to track eastern spotted skunk kits from birth to independence, providing new insights into the ecology of this cryptic species.
Funding source: Pittman-Robertson Federal Aid
Award Identifier / Grant number: WM-0322
Acknowledgments
We thank R.L. Sparks and the Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina for providing property access and for their support of this research. We also thank C.G. Dukes with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission for logistical support of this research.
-
Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
-
Research funding: This research was funded by the Pittman-Robertson Federal Aid to Wildlife Restoration Grant (WM-0322) and is a joint research project between the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and Clemson University.
-
Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this article.
-
Research ethics: We followed the American Society of Mammalogists guidelines for wild mammals (https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyw078) and complied with Clemson University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee protocol (# 2017-065) for all skunk trapping, processing, collaring, and radio-tracking for this study.
References
Butler, A.R., Edelman, A.J., Eng, R.Y.Y., Harris, S.N., Olfenbuttel, C., Thorne, E.D., Ford, W.M., and Jachowski, D.S. (2021). Demography of the Appalachian spotted skunk (Spilogale putorius putorius). SE. Nat. 20: 95–109, https://doi.org/10.1656/058.020.0sp1110.Search in Google Scholar
Crabb, W.D. (1944). Development and seasonal weights of spotted skunks. J. Mammal. 25: 213–221, https://doi.org/10.2307/1374698.Search in Google Scholar
Diggins, C.A., Jachowski, D.S., Martin, J., and Ford, W.M. (2015). Incidental captures of eastern spotted skunk in a high-elevation red spruce forest in Virginia. Northeast. Nat. 22: N6–N10, https://doi.org/10.1656/045.022.0211.Search in Google Scholar
Gompper, M.E. and Hackett, H.M. (2005). The long-term, range-wide decline of a once common carnivore: the eastern spotted skunk (Spilogale putorius). Anim. Conserv. 8: 195–201, https://doi.org/10.1017/s1367943005001964.Search in Google Scholar
Griffith, G.E., Omernik, J.M., Comstock, J.A., Schafale, M.P., McNab, W.H., Lenat, D.R., and MacPherson, T.F. (2002). Ecoregions of North Carolina. US Environmental Protection Agency, Corvallis, OR.Search in Google Scholar
Jachowski, D.S. and Edelman, A.J. (2021). Advancing small carnivore research and conservation: the eastern spotted skunk cooperative study group model. SE. Nat. 20: 1–12, https://doi.org/10.1656/058.020.0sp1102.Search in Google Scholar
Kinlaw, A. (1995). Spilogale putorius. Mamm. Species 511: 1–7.Search in Google Scholar
Lesmeister, D.B., Gompper, M.E., and Millspaugh, J.J. (2009). Habitat selection and home range dynamics of eastern spotted skunks in the Ouachita Mountains, Arkansas, USA. J. Wildl. Manag. 73: 18–25, https://doi.org/10.2193/2007-447.Search in Google Scholar
Lesmeister, D.B., Millspaugh, J.J., Gompper, M.E., and Mong, T.W. (2010). Eastern spotted skunk (Spilogale putorius) survival and cause-specific mortality in the Ouachita Mountains, Arkansas. Am. Midl. Nat. 164: 52–60, https://doi.org/10.1674/0003-0031-164.1.52.Search in Google Scholar
Mead, R.A. (1968). Reproduction in eastern forms of the spotted skunk (genus Spilogale). J. Zool. 156: 119–136, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1968.tb08581.x.Search in Google Scholar
Sikes, R.S., and the Animal Care and Use Committee of the American Society of Mammalogists (2016). 2016 Guidelines of the American Society of Mammalogists for the use of wild mammals in research and education. Journal of Mammalogy 97: 663–688, doi:10.1093/jmammal/gyw078.10.1093/jmammal/gyw078Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central
Sprayberry, T.R. and Edelman, A.J. (2016). Food provisioning of kits by a female eastern spotted skunk. SE. Nat. 15: N53–N56, https://doi.org/10.1656/058.015.0417.Search in Google Scholar
Thorne, E.D. and Waggy, C. (2017). First reported observation of food provisioning to offspring by an eastern spotted skunk, a small carnivore. Northeast. Nat. 24: N1–N4, https://doi.org/10.1656/045.024.0108.Search in Google Scholar
Thorne, E.D., Waggy, C., Jachowski, D.S., Kelly, M.J., and Ford, W.M. (2017). Winter habitat associations of eastern spotted skunks in Virginia. J. Wildl. Manag. 81: 1042–1050, https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.21282.Search in Google Scholar
Wilson, S.B., Colquhoun, R., Klink, A., Lanini, T., Riggs, S., Simpson, B., Williams, A., and Jachowski, D.S. (2016). Recent detections of Spilogale putorius (eastern spotted skunk) in South Carolina. SE. Nat. 15: 269–274, https://doi.org/10.1656/058.015.0207.Search in Google Scholar
Supplementary Material
The online version of this article offers supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/mammalia-2021-0110).
© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
