Habitat: Streamside woodlands, groves of hardwood trees, semi-open areas, brushy grasslands and valleys.

Description: Black fur with a white stripe running in between the eyes, along the head.  Two stripes run along its back from the neck to the tail, where they become one stripe.  A pair of glands on either side of the anus discharges the smelly liquid skunks are famous for.

Size: 54-79cm long, 1.9-4.2kg.

Diet: Omnivorous, eating insects, bees, grasshoppers, june bugs (in the summer) fruits, berries, small mammals, bird eggs, amphibians, reptiles, grains and green vegetation.

Fun Facts: Skunks can very happily live within cities, eating people's garden's and garbage.

Source: Pattie, D. and C. Fisher. 1999. Mammals of Alberta. Lone Pine Publishing.