Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Two Skunks, Black and White

Two skunks below the bird feeder, one mostly black, one mostly white

In addition to our small, mostly-black skunk, we have been seeing a mostly-white skunk off and on since last summer. Before I moved here, I had not seen this much individual variation in skunk coat color.

White skunk eating sunflower seeds

13 comments:

Unknown said...

i haven't seen a skunks since my childhood.. (they, like a surprizing large variety of animals, manage to eke out a living inside of NYC parks..)

they are more common in the bronx (mainland) but i see possums, racoons, foxes, (friends have seen weasles and otters, but i haven't)turtles, (box and snapping turtles are pretty common, (unfortunately, turtles are most often seen as road kill)
squirrels are everywhere, (chimpmonks almost unknown in the city) (mice and rats, of course) and wide variety of birds--hawks to hummingbirds!

almost all the wild life i have seen has been in city parks, though raccoons and possums do wander into neighboorhoods, (better pickins in the garbage!)

Rebecca Clayton said...

Cities have an interesting fauna, but people observant enough to appreciate it are scarce. You have a good eye for critters!

Anonymous said...

We see a similar range of variation in striped skunks. I prefer the mostly white ones because they're easier to see in the dark.

Rebecca Clayton said...

Two or three springs ago, we had so many skunks we trapped them and moved them away. The easiest and least smelly way to get them out of the "have-a-heart" trap is to throw a sheet of plastic over trapped skunk, put the whole affair in the back of the truck, drive down to the river, and release the skunk. They are so anxious to run away they don't spray.

We caught and relocated a skunk a day for about 10 days, and every one was uniquely marked.

Anonymous said...

Just last night i saw a skunk in my yard in CT that was all white on top and sides and black only underneath, with a big feather duster of a tail. it looked very similar to yours. Not a stripe, just allwhite on top. Cool.

Anonymous said...

I've also had a very white skunk come into my yard in the last few months. All white on top with four black legs. Very cute. Unfortunately my dog has been sprayed twice!

Anonymous said...

Until tonight, I never even knew that white skunks existed. I saw one in my yard. It was awesome! They are such neat creatures. I just moved to Oxford,Ct and have been enjoying a wonderful variety of wildlife in my backyard.

Anonymous said...

hey my last name is white skunk i think its so cool! i never realized a white skunk could be so beautiful, when i was younger i used to be teased about my last name. now i love it.

Unknown said...
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Mary said...

You probably won't find this post, but I have the same combination at my house almost every year....one very white one and one very black one. Odd! I took a photo of my white one tonight but haven't posted it yet.

darmeeu said...

I live in Leoma, Tennessee, and just yesterday, I saw a white skunk with black underbelly & legs. This morning, there were three of them in my back yard. They are beautiful.

Anonymous said...

I live in Garrett County MD and last night saw a mostly white animal I'd never seen before (lived in metro areas until late 1990's with not much chance of seeing this anyway). It had the fluffy tail of a skunk but the body was more weasel like shape. I can't figure out from web photo search what it was and found your site. Any further suggestions?

Anonymous said...

Mr Garrett County

A stink badger?