Skunks Diet

Biologists now classify skunks in a separate family from weasels, which was the former category into which these mammals fell. Skunks are omnivorous mammals, with their diets consisting of plants and animals. The five species of skunks that inhabit North America have the ability to subsist on an array of foods, which permits the species to have a wide geographic distribution throughout the continent.

Diet

The menu of a skunk contains nearly anything small enough for it to catch and whatever edible plants the creature can find. Insects of all sorts, including grasshoppers and crickets, are part of the diet as are rodents like mice and rats. Skunks will eat fish and crayfish from an aquatic scenario and gobble up the eggs and the young of birds when they encounter a nest. Carrion is not above the taste buds of a skunk. Fruit, mulberries, corn, grapes and nuts are all important skunk foods, notes the "National Audubon Society Field Guide to Mammals."

Seasonal Varieties

The food a skunk eats often depends on the season, as some of the mammal's favorite meals are not available during colder weather. In the fall and winter, skunks will eat a diet composed of roughly half animals and half vegetation, but in the spring and the summer months, the skunk turns more to foods such as insects, which begin to become active as the weather warms. The skunk is nocturnal, coming out at night to forage for food. If you see a skunk walking boldly about in the day, there is a good chance the animal is rabid, as skunks frequently contract rabies.

Types

Different skunk species have varied eating habits. Eastern and western spotted skunks and striped skunks have a broad diet that includes many types of things, but the hognose skunk is more selective. This skunk, which lives in Texas and the Desert Southwest, has a long snout with a wide nose pad, perfected for rooting about in the ground for insects and beetle grubs. The hognose skunk's eating habits earn it the nickname of rooter skunk. The hooded skunk of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas depends mostly on insects for nutrition because it is not quick enough to capture small mammals as other skunks do.

Effects

Skunks are often in close proximity to people, and their diets can cause problems when the animal begins to go through garbage cans looking for food and when skunks get into crops. Skunks will eat bees and have a tendency to damage beehives when they get the opportunity. Skunks will eat corn, but only those ears low enough on the stalk to reach. Skunks become a terrible nuisance when they begin digging up lawns and places such as golf courses as they search for grubs. Skunks will raid a hen house and eat the eggs, occasionally killing poultry.

Considerations

Skunks can climb trees and will do so to escape danger and look for the nests of birds. Skunks stay dormant inside their dens in the colder climates of the northern states, but are active the entire year in warmer ecosystems. Most predators typically leave skunks alone, as their ability to spray a foul-smelling musk keeps them safe from danger. However, the great horned owl will fly down and ambush a skunk, killing it before it gets the chance to spray.