### animal | vertebrate | mammal:

Skunk
* All skunks have long claws used for digging up worms, insects, and grubs
  - the ability to discharge a nauseating musk from their anal glands
* CAN go into heat as early as nine months of age.
* Many skunks live in underground dens that they line with dry leaves.
* Most skunks belong to families
  - come out at night
  - conserve energy
* Most skunks descend from ancestors
  - common ancestors
  - dig shape holes
  - drink water
* Most skunks eat food
  - vegetables
  - get diets
* Most skunks has-part glands
  - tails
  - teeth
* Most skunks have big feet
  - ears
  - eyesights
  - fur
  - organs
  - poor eyesights
  - predators
  - short ears
  - stripes
  - toes
  - white stripes
  - keep burrows
* Most skunks live in areas
  - up to years
  - possess coats
  - raise tails
  - rely on senses
  - reside in dens
  - serve as pests
* Most skunks use burrows
  - woodchuck burrows
* SKunks can be other colors too.
* Some skunks act as scavengers
  - also have a taste for garbage
  - are lactose intolerant
* Some skunks carry diseases
  - viruses
  - cause irritation
  - consume mice
  - destroy eggs
  - die within life
* Some skunks eat bees
  - enter burrows
  - gain height
* Some skunks have edges
  - ranges
  - triangular patches
  - infect with rabies
  - live in homes
* Some skunks lose bones
  - weight
  - possess viruses
  - prefer dens
  - seek insects
  - stay in burrows
  - use claws
* also carry distemper, which can be deadly to dogs
* also dig and feed on cutworms
  - holes in lawns, golf courses, and gardens
* also eat birdseed and readily raid garbage containers in urban and suburban areas
  - fruits, nuts, garden crops, and scavenge on garbage, birdseed, and pet food
* also eat mice, frogs and fruit
  - young rabbits, ground squirrels, voles, birds, and bird eggs
  - enjoy dog food and cat food
* also feed on corn and other planted grains
  - rodents, so eliminating rodent problems can reduce the attraction for skunks
  - the eggs of upland game birds and waterfowl
  - live under old buildings
  - make night noises under buildings or porches and decks
  - tear apart logs and dig up nests of wasps and other insects in search of a meal
  - wake to seek food if the temperature warms even slightly
* apparently try to avoid getting ANY musk on their fur.
* are a common carrier of the rabies virus
  - lead carrier of rabies
  - nocturnal animal and generally ignore humans
  - reservoir species for rabies and carry skunk rabies variants
  - significant carrier of rabies in the United States
  - about the size of a large domestic cat
* are active at dusk and throughout the night
  - year-round
  - adept as using their scent glands as an weapon against predators
  - attracted to residential areas by the availability of food, water, and shelter
  - black with either stripes or spots of white running down their backs
* are capable of breeding in their first year
  - making a number of sounds, but ordinarily are silent
  - spray
  - color blind, but they can see very well at night
  - common in suburban areas
  - complicated pets, kind of like a cross between a cat, a dog, and a human toddler
* are dormant for about a month during the coldest part of the winter
  - one month during the coldest part of the winter
* are easy to catch in live traps
  - recognize with their distinct black and white coloring
  - eaten by foxes, dogs, bobcats, coyotes, or cougars only very occasionally
  - fair swimmers, but prefer to stay out of water
  - fearless, but they are also very peaceful
  - furbearers meaning they can be harvested for their fur
* are generally immune to the venom of local snakes
  - nocturnal and get up and start looking for food around sunset
  - heavy bodied with short legs, triangular heads, and long, plume-like tails
  - host to fleas, lice, mites, ticks and various internal parasites
  - individuals from the weasel family, all of which have aromatic organs on the rear-end
  - legendary for the defensive power of their foul smelling spray
  - less active during the cooler winter months and more active when the weather warms up
  - located in forests
  - mammals known for their ability to spray a liquid with a strong odor
* are members of the weasel family, all of which possess scent glands near the anus
  - most abundant in counties that have small tracts of unbroken forests
  - mostly nocturnal animals, which means they are most active at night
  - mustelids and are susceptible to canine distemper virus infection
  - nighttime creatures, dynamic and bolstering amid night hours
  - nocturnal and reclusive
* are nocturnal animals, active and feeding during night hours
  - meaning they are active from dusk to dawn
  - which means they come out during the nighttime and they are very active
* are nocturnal, active from dusk to dawn, sleeping during the day in their dens
  - becoming active from sunset to slightly after sunrise
  - notorious for the foul odor of their spray and their digging habits
* are notorious for their ability to discharge an obnoxious scent upon provocation
  - anal scent glands, which they can use as a defensive weapon
  - primary protective behavior
  - omnivores
* are omnivorous and include poultry and eggs in their diet when available
  - but they mostly eat insects
* are omnivorous, eating mice, eggs, insects, grubs, fruit, carrion, and shrews
  - which is the main reason they prefer wooded areas
  - one of the primary carriers of the rabies virus
* are opportunistic eaters with a varied diet
  - eaters, and their diets are flexible, often shifting with the seasons
  - feeders, feeding on both plant and animal material
  - perhaps most well known for their defense strategy
  - pets for a certain type of person
  - placid, retiring and non-aggressive
  - primarily nocturnal
  - quadrupeds
  - rare
  - second only to raccoons when it comes to cases of reported rabies
  - shy with their bathroom habits
  - slow moving and docile
  - small mammals with distinctive physical and behavioral adaptations
* are solitary animals for most of the year
  - animals, except when raising young or sharing a den during cold periods
* are susceptible to distemper and rabies
  - talented and like to make their own beds
* are the main reservoir for the disease
  - primary carriers of rabies in the Midwest
  - smelliest mammals
  - thieves
* are usually active from early evening through most of the night
  - after grubs
  - vertebrates known for their capacity to shower a fluid with disgusting scent
* are very adaptable and often find food and nesting sites around human habitations
  - animals, often living in close proximity to man
  - loving and protective of their young
  - sensitive about their feet and nails
  - special animals
  - susceptible to rabies
  - vulnerable to a variety of internal and external parasites
* become a nuisance when burrowing and feeding habits conflict with humans
  - they come into the human world
  - problem when their activities conflict with human interests
  - nuisances
* belongs to the weasel family, including the river otter, mink, fisher, ermine and wolverine.
* can accurately spray their smelly fluid as far as ten feet.
* can also cause severe damage to gardens and lawns by their digging activities
  - live beneath brushpiles, rockpiles, stacked lumber and wrecked automobiles
* can be a nuisance because of their odor
  - active year-round
  - fun to watch, and behave quite similar to cats
  - very loving pets
  - become trapped in window wells
* can carry rabies and be destructive to lawn and home
  - the virus for months in their saliva without showing symptoms
  - climb, especially young skunks
  - damage lawns when they dig in search of insect larvae or roots
* can dig their own burrows
  - under foundations and take up residence under homes or in other buildings
* can discharge pungent chemicals from glands under their tails
  - the spray several times within a short period
  - their scent glands several times within a short period
  - eat wasps, bees and their honey without getting stung
  - escape out of the smallest of places
* can get both canine and feline distemper
  - through holes that are quite small
* can live about ten years in captivity
  - under under patios, stoops, sheds and decks
  - quickly become a nuisance when digging holes in the lawn and flower beds
  - survive on a wide variety of foods
  - transmit rabies to other skunks or to humans, pets, or other animals
* cause problems.
* consume diets.
* die from a variety of causes.
  - holes in lawns, golf courses, and gardens to search for grubs in the soil
  - small round holes, and in some cases actually roll up large chunks of sod
* discharge an obnoxious scent when provoked.
* display their warning loud and clear with their black body and white stripes.
* eat a wide variety of food
  - caterpillers and other insects such as beetles, crickets, and grasshoppers
  - insects, worms, snakes, mice, eggs, fruit and vegetables
  - pest animals, such as rats, mice, and other rodents
  - plants and domestic animal foods
  - whatever foods are available
* emerge from dens.
* enjoy a varied diet.
* exhibit characteristics.
* fear very little in the wild, including man.
* feed at night on grubs living in the soil.
* find shelter under buildings or in ground burrows taken over from other animals.
* follow mothers.
* forage for grubs.
* have a relatively small head, short legs, wide rear end, and a long, bushy haired tail
  - tendency to roam, and have very minimal homing instincts
  - development
* have many natural predators
  - small pads on the soles of their feet
  - no homing instincts
* have poor eyesights
  - vision and sometimes spray because they are unaware of the approach of a human
* have sharp claws on the front feet used for digging insects and worms
  - paws on the front feet utilized for burrowing bugs and worms
  - teeth and extremely long fangs and can give a very serious bite
  - tendency to want to live under porches and decks
  - trouble digesting processed foods
* hibernate in the winter.
* includes brains
  - breasts
  - cell membranes
  - cells
  - chest cavities
  - chests
  - corpi
  - cytoplasm
  - faces
  - nuclei
  - pedal extremities
  - piluses
  - plasma membranes
  - rib cages
  - sections
  - skulls
  - sterna
  - vacuoles
  - vertebrate feet
* kill poultry and eat eggs.
* lift tails.
* live in a variety of habitats
  - small groups and often share a burrow with the fox or raccoon who dug it
  - underground dens, usually renovated woodchuck burrows, or in rocky crevasses
  - under sheds, decks and porches
* look for the grubs in soil and often search in newly dug gardens.
* love skunks.
* lower heads.
* make a variety of sounds, including hisses, growls, squeals, soft cooings and churrings
  - vocalizations that include hisses, growls, squeals and cooings
* move to locations.
* newly awakened from winter hibernation are slow to recognize danger.
* normally range within a quarter to one-half a square mile of their den.
* now come in brown, white, gray, blonde, lavender, black and any and all shades in between.
* occasionally bother bee-hives
  - beehives
* often become trapped in window wells
  - fall down basement window wells as well
* only stay in one place for a long time when they are mostly inactive during the winter
  - store enough fluid to spray around five times
* particularly potent variety of marijuana developed in Holland.
* prefer areas of mixed woodlands and fields
  - to eat meat and insects but also dine on vegetation and any food with a strong odor
* present a particularly stinky problem for dogs and their owners.
* produce the spray in glands on both sides of their tails.
* release scent
  - strong and offensive odors
  - their extremely keen sense of smell to locate food, and predators
* remain as a reservoir of the virus.
* remain in handstand positions
* require fresh all natural ingredients in their diet in order to thrive.
* save some farms during the Depression by the income from their pelts.
* see well up to only about three feet.
* seek grubs.
* shake tails.
* share dens.
* sleep throughout the winter except during warm spells when they emerge to forage.
* sometimes become a pest to homeowners.
* spray musks
  - their enemies with oily yellow musk when they are angry or afraid
  - to defend themselves from predators
* survive years.
* take up residences.
* tear out divots of turf that are three to six inches in diameter.
* tend marry turtles
  - to re-use their winter dens
* typically have visible claw marks in their tracks.
  - odor to protect themselves, and octipi hide themselves in dense clouds of ink
  - underground dens year-round for daytime resting, hiding, birthing and rearing young
* usually begin foraging after dark and are back in their dens before daylight
  - give ample warning before they spray their musk
  - have a black coat with two white stripes down the back
  - hunt alone
  - mate during the early spring or late winter
  - spray behind, but can also spray to the side and in front by twisting the body
* utilize dens of a variety of structures and possible locations.