The striped skunk is at home in a variety of habitats. It prefers forest borders, brushy field corners, fence rows and open grassy fields broken by wooded ravines and rocky outcrops, where permanent water is nearby. Spotted skunks inhabit the open prairies more than striped skunks do, although the two may be found in many similar habitats. The den of a skunk is customarily in the ground, but occasionally is located in a stump, refuse dump, cave, rock pile, crevice in a cliff, farm building, wood pile or haystack. Striped skunks leave their dens in the late afternoon or early evening and forage most of the night.
Spotted skunks tend to have a smaller home range.
In autumn, striped skunks acquire a layer of fat and as the weather gets colder, spend more time in their dens. When the temperature nears freezing, they become drowsy and sleep intermittently. However, the body temperature does not become lowered as in the case of most truly hibernating animals. By contrast, spotted skunks hunt in fields during good winter weather and forage in barns or similarly protected locations during wet or very cold weather. Skunks eat plant and animal foods in about equal amounts during fall and winter but take considerably more animal matter during spring and summer when insects, their preferred food, are more available.