"Marie Tosa knows more about the western spotted skunk than almost anyone on Earth. Between 2017 and 2019, as a Ph.D. student at Oregon State University, Tosa trekked all over the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest in Oregon's Cascade Range, capturing, collaring and following spotted skunks through dense forests and rolling valleys. In the process, she put 300,000 miles on two research trucks and got sprayed anywhere between 50 and 100 times."
"Spotted skunks weigh between 300 and 800 grams or about 10.5 to 27 ounces - less than many neighborhood squirrels, and much less than striped skunks. Traditional GPS collars would weigh them down too much, so Tosa used VHF radio collars, which emit short beeps every couple of seconds. Researchers must get within 500 meters (546 yards) of a skunk to pick up the signal."
"Spotted skunks are some of the most common carnivores in Western forests, living from British Columbia to California and as far east as Wyoming, New Mexico and Colorado in both old-growth and younger forests. Spotted skunks are nocturnal. At night, they hunt for food, find mates and move around. During the day, they sleep in burrows dug by mountain beavers or inside the hollowed-out trunks of giant Douglas firs and hemlock trees."
Between 2017 and 2019, field studies in the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest captured, collared, and tracked western spotted skunks across dense forests and valleys, documenting diet, movements, and habitat preferences. Field teams accumulated extensive travel and encountered frequent defensive spraying. Spotted skunks weigh 300–800 grams, so VHF radio collars were used instead of GPS units. The species ranges from British Columbia to California and east to Wyoming, New Mexico, and Colorado. Spotted skunks are nocturnal, forage at night, and use burrows or hollow tree trunks for daytime shelter. Eastern populations have declined dramatically; western populations appear more stable.
Read at High Country News
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