The skunk is a genus of small carnivorous quadrupeds of the family Mustelidae. The body is elongated, and usually much arched; the tail long, and thickly covered with long, fine hair; the head small with thick, blunt snout; the legs short, and the paws comparatively large, with five incompletely divided toes. All the species are American, and, as they differ little in habit, the common skunk,
M. mephitica, may be taken as typical of the whole genus. The common skunk, an animal about the size of a cat, has fur of a glossy black; on the forehead is a patch of white diverging into two lines which extend the whole length of the back and meet again in the bushy tail. All have nocturnal habits and are noted for excessive development of the anal glands from which an acrid fetid discharge may be projected a considerable distance and which is their chief defense against their enemies. They are trapped for their fur, which is sometimes sold as "Alaska sable".
some facts
- The keeping of skunks as pets is legal in only certain U.S. states.
- Skunks usually do not spray other skunks, with the exception of males in the mating season.
- The word Zorrillo means 'little fox' in Spanish.
