I returned home this morning at 0930 to find 2 STRIPED SKUNKS foraging at our open compost pile. The local family is different in that the back and sides are pure white and the tail 90% white, the rest deep black. The pattern of both skunks was the same. One of them looked dirty, and it was almost twice the size of the other, which was very clean-looking. I immediately thought "mother and half-grown baby". Awww. They were feeding side-by-side when first seen, but soon the larger snapped at the smaller. I thought this odd, but ignored the implications. The smaller hid in the tall grass for several minutes until the larger waddled away, when it returned and fed for some time. I then got out my scope to get more detail on the exact color patterns. Viewed from the rear, I noted a fleshy protuberance. Penis?; but it was not in quite the right place. A good view from the side, however, showed a row of dangling nipples. THIS was a mother, nursing young somewhere nearby. So what is the large skunk? Males are solitary and are not supposed to hang around nursing females. Presumably another female, maybe the female we saw last year here and now the grandmother of the hidden nursing babes. I did not check the larger one for nipples, but will do so if opportunity presents itself. Moral: things are not always what they seem.
Steve Fast Brooktondale -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
