HAVE YOU SEEN THIS CRITTER?
BY – DIANE M. TIPTON, MONTANA FISH, WILDLIFE & PARKS STATEWIDE INFORMATION OFFICER
If you enjoy identifying wildlife species you haven't seen before, here is a new challenge for you—the Western spotted skunk.
"It has been 10 years since anyone has reported seeing a Western spotted skunk in Montana," said Steve Carson, data programmer and analyst for FWP. "We have only 18 documented sightings on record, and a couple of these date back to the 1940s and 1950s."
The Western spotted skunk is true to its name—each jet black and white animal carries a unique white mottled pattern. At only one to two pounds and one and a half feet in length from nose to tail, they are squirrel-like and able to climb trees.
The skunk's spraying behavior and spots make it flamboyant, though it is strictly nocturnal and highly secretive. When threatened, the spotted skunk may stamp its feet, or do a handstand on its forefeet, raise its tail and spray. They are accurate to within 12—20 feet, but most predators are smart enough to back off once this performance begins.
Carson believes Montana is at the fringe edge of core Western spotted skunk territory, most of which is generally to the west and south of the state. The individual spotted skunk has a home range of about 150 acres, and they seem to prefer arid, brushy and rocky canyons.
The 18 recorded sightings of spotted skunks occurred in southwestern and south central Montana. They occurred in the 1920s and 1940s in the southern portion of the Bitterroot Valley, in the Lima, Dillon and Belgrade areas in the 1980s and 1990s and the Pryor Mountains in the 1980s.
Biologists want to hear about any recent sightings of the Western spotted skunk to help determine if a resident population exists today and what its habitat needs are.
"The big gap since the last reported sighting has us concerned. At this point, any credible sighting would be of great interest," Carson said.
Those wishing to report a sighting of the spotted skunk in Montana may: call Steve Carson at 406-444-7778, email him at [email protected], or go to the Natural Heritage web page at http://nhp.nris.state.mt.us/ and click on Submit Your Observation in the middle of the page.
Details on the Western spotted skunk can be found by going to the FWP web site at fwp.mt.gov and looking under Wild Things on the navigation bar.
Part of the effort to document the presence and distribution of various small mammals is funded by State Wildlife Grant money, federal dollars earmarked to help states broaden efforts to conserve species for which biological information is lacking, whose populations are in decline or that are at risk of declining.
In Montana this work is outlined in the state's Comprehensive Fish and Wildlife Conservation Strategy, submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last year. For more on the Comprehensive Fish and Wildlife Conservation Strategy, go to the FWP home page at fwp.mt.gov and look under Wild Things on the State Wildlife Grants page.
-fwp-
BY – DIANE M. TIPTON, MONTANA FISH, WILDLIFE & PARKS STATEWIDE INFORMATION OFFICER
If you enjoy identifying wildlife species you haven't seen before, here is a new challenge for you—the Western spotted skunk.
"It has been 10 years since anyone has reported seeing a Western spotted skunk in Montana," said Steve Carson, data programmer and analyst for FWP. "We have only 18 documented sightings on record, and a couple of these date back to the 1940s and 1950s."
The Western spotted skunk is true to its name—each jet black and white animal carries a unique white mottled pattern. At only one to two pounds and one and a half feet in length from nose to tail, they are squirrel-like and able to climb trees.
The skunk's spraying behavior and spots make it flamboyant, though it is strictly nocturnal and highly secretive. When threatened, the spotted skunk may stamp its feet, or do a handstand on its forefeet, raise its tail and spray. They are accurate to within 12—20 feet, but most predators are smart enough to back off once this performance begins.
Carson believes Montana is at the fringe edge of core Western spotted skunk territory, most of which is generally to the west and south of the state. The individual spotted skunk has a home range of about 150 acres, and they seem to prefer arid, brushy and rocky canyons.
The 18 recorded sightings of spotted skunks occurred in southwestern and south central Montana. They occurred in the 1920s and 1940s in the southern portion of the Bitterroot Valley, in the Lima, Dillon and Belgrade areas in the 1980s and 1990s and the Pryor Mountains in the 1980s.
Biologists want to hear about any recent sightings of the Western spotted skunk to help determine if a resident population exists today and what its habitat needs are.
"The big gap since the last reported sighting has us concerned. At this point, any credible sighting would be of great interest," Carson said.
Those wishing to report a sighting of the spotted skunk in Montana may: call Steve Carson at 406-444-7778, email him at [email protected], or go to the Natural Heritage web page at http://nhp.nris.state.mt.us/ and click on Submit Your Observation in the middle of the page.
Details on the Western spotted skunk can be found by going to the FWP web site at fwp.mt.gov and looking under Wild Things on the navigation bar.
Part of the effort to document the presence and distribution of various small mammals is funded by State Wildlife Grant money, federal dollars earmarked to help states broaden efforts to conserve species for which biological information is lacking, whose populations are in decline or that are at risk of declining.
In Montana this work is outlined in the state's Comprehensive Fish and Wildlife Conservation Strategy, submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last year. For more on the Comprehensive Fish and Wildlife Conservation Strategy, go to the FWP home page at fwp.mt.gov and look under Wild Things on the State Wildlife Grants page.
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