Skunks Have a Complicated Relationship with Humans

Skunks belong to a family of medium-sized carnivores (meso-carnivores) famed for their striking coloration and remarkable ability to spray foul-smelling liquid at their enemies. Despite what their family name suggests, however, skunks are omnivorous and eat anything from roots and berries to insects and rodents. Skunks are very adaptable and hardy, able to persist in a broad range of environments and coexist with many fearsome predators.

The black and white coloration of skunks is no accident. In nature, these patterns of contrasting colors signal to other species that an animal is noxious and should be avoided, similar to how poison tree frogs use bright coloration to warn would-be predators of their toxicity. This phenomenon is known as aposematism, and this defense tactic helps skunks ward off attacks from larger predators. This does not make them immune, however, and skunks are occasionally predated upon by large carnivores, such as mountain lions, but thanks to their aposematic coloration, this occurs relatively infrequently.

If an animal is not deterred by the coloration, however, skunks deploy their hidden weapon. From two specially adapted anal scent glands, a foul-smelling, sulfur-containing organic chemical is sprayed towards their attacker. While the chemical can be sprayed accurately from more than 10 feet, it can be smelled from great distances. This chemical spray is potent enough to deter bears and can even cause temporary blindness in mammals.

The skunk’s formidable nature and ability to thrive in a multitude of environments has made them one of the most successful and widespread meso-carnivore families in the Americas.

Striped skunks are the most numerous of the skunk species and are present in all lower 48 U.S. states, northern Mexico and Canada. Striped skunks are what is known as a synanthropic species. That is, a species that has not only managed to live alongside humans, but to utilize human environments for their own benefit. In agricultural landscapes, skunks will often use abandoned barns and farmhouses for denning, but skunks can also utilize human structures in fairly urbanized environments, frequently raiding trash cans for leftover scraps of food and even denning in crawl spaces around people’s homes. Many nuisance skunks are removed each year.

Along with their noxious smell and potential to carry rabies, skunks fuel people’s fear and negative opinion towards the species. However, it is worth noting that documented cases of striped skunks carrying rabies in Illinois are rare, and despite the stigma, skunks provide many benefits to humans. Not only do striped skunks perform a vital role within Illinois’ ecosystems, they also help control pest species, such as insects and rodents, which can cause damage to agriculture. They are also important seed dispersers, and their digging of the soil in search for grubs actually helps aerate the soil and improve its quality.

Despite how common striped skunks are, and because of the reasons mentioned above, they are relatively understudied compared to similarly common meso-carnivores. Effectively managing these species, however, requires accurate data on their occurrences, abundances, and behaviors.

Studying Skunk Space Use in Illinois

In recently published research in Acta Oecologica, my co-author and I investigated the principal drivers of striped skunk space use in Illinois. We used data from an ongoing project funded by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, which uses a statewide array of trail cameras to monitor the mammal populations within Illinois. We used data from photographs to model striped skunk occurrences within Illinois at two spatial scales – the local scale (within 100m of trail cameras) and the landscape scale (within 1km of trail cameras). The local scale represents an animal’s immediate surroundings, whereas the landscape scale represents the broader context of the environment (e.g. a small woodland patch surrounded by row crop agriculture). It is important to consider both when determining relationships between animals and their environment, as one habitat feature may be important on one scale but not at another. We compared the effects of multiple factors on the likelihood that skunks will use a particular area, which fell into three broad categories that represent different aspects of striped skunk life histories – habitat, food and potential competitors (the abundances of other meso-carnivore species).

We found that, at the local scale, the density of roads and the proportion of urban edge (the interface of urban and natural habitat) were the best predictors of striped skunk space use. As road density increased, the probability of a striped skunk using that space decreased. This is likely because busy roads may represent a significant risk for striped skunks, as collisions with motor vehicles are a major source of mortality for the species in Illinois. Furthermore, the density of roads is often highly correlated with the most highly developed urban land, which may have more risks than benefits to even the synanthropic skunk.

While the density of roads had a negative effect on striped skunk space use, the proportion of urban edge within the immediate surroundings had positive effects on skunk use. This reinforces the notion that proximity to human spaces can be advantageous to striped skunks, but highly urbanized areas too isolated from more natural areas may be less suitable for the species. In this way, these interfaces allow skunks to reap the benefits of being close to humans without straying too far from the safety that more natural areas provide. Furthermore, it broadens the culinary options for skunks, who can supplement their diet with foods from either source.

Humans, Coyotes and Skunks

At the landscape scale, we found an interesting dynamic between humans, coyotes and skunks. The interaction effect between housing density and coyote abundance was the best predictor of striped skunk space use at the landscape scale.

In rural areas, the likelihood of skunk use increased with increasing coyote abundance, but in urban areas, skunks were more likely to use space when coyote abundance was lower. Therefore, the overlap in the use of space by striped skunks and coyotes was greater in more natural areas, probably because productive habitat here is beneficial to both species. Their coexistence in these areas is likely facilitated by skunks using different resources, or to different extents, than coyotes, while their defense mechanisms protect them from direct aggressive encounters with the canines.

In urban settings, however, skunks exploit human resources in different ways than coyotes and are thus likely to frequent different spaces. Whereas skunks may spend time raiding trash cans for human refuse, coyotes are more likely to hunt rodents or rabbits. In this way, humans may create new niches in urban environments, allowing for reduced competition between skunks and their potential competitors.

Skunks and Humans: A Complex Relationship

It is clear that striped skunks have a complex relationship with humans. While they excel at using some characteristics of human spaces to their benefit, other human spaces represent great risk to the species. The high level of anxiety created when humans (or their pets) and skunks are in close proximity, and frequency of collisions with motor vehicles, are inherent drawbacks to their utilization of human spaces in what could be described as a love-hate relationship with us humans.

Despite their relative success, skunks are not invulnerable, and we should be careful not to take them for granted. Like any other species, they have vital roles to play within ecosystems, which in turn benefits humanity.

With synanthropic species, minimizing conflict with humans is the best approach to ensure peaceful survival with each other in this increasingly human-dominated world.

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Nathan Proudman is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Illinois Natural History Survey. His research has primarily focused on the ecology of mammals. Currently, he is working on a statewide monitoring program for mammals in Illinois.