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The Western Spotted Skunk (Spilogale gracilis) is a spotted skunk found throughout the western United States, northern Mexico, and southwestern British Columbia. The Western Spotted Skunk is smaller than the striped skunk. Their total length is usually 35-55cm. Their habitat is mixed woodlands, open areas, and farmlands. They ascend to scare predators. They spray by standing on their forelegs and raising their hind legs and tail in the air.

The Hooded Skunk, Mephitis macroura, is similar to the striped skunk, but can be distinguished by its longer tail and longer, softer coat of fur. A ruff of white fur around its neck gives the animal its common name. It is generally more white dorsally, and black ventrally, but two color variants exist. One type has an all-white back, while the other has a black back with two white longitudinal stripes.

The hooded skunk is most abundant in Mexico, but its range extends into Central America and into the southwestern United States. It is found on grassland, high desert, and in the foothills of mountains, but it avoids high elevation. It tends to live near a water source, such as a river.

The diet of the hooded skunk consists mostly of vegetation, especially prickly pear, but it will readily consume insects and small rodents as well. It shelters in a burrow or a nest of thick plant cover during the day and is active at night. Its breeding season is in the late winter and the female bears an average litter of three young.

The Striped Skunk, Mephitis mephitis, is an omnivorous mammal of the skunk family Mephitidae. Found over most of the North American continent north of Mexico, it is one of the best-known mammals in Canada and the United States.

The Striped Skunk has a black body with a white stripe along each side of its body; the two stripes join into a broader white area at the nape. Its forehead has a narrow white stripe. About the size of a house cat, it weighs 2.5 to 14 pounds (1.2–6.3 kg) with a body length (excluding the tail) of 13 to 18 inches (33–46 cm). The bushy tail is 7 to 10 inches long (18–25 cm), and sometimes has a white tip.

The presence of a Striped Skunk is often first made apparent by its odor. It has well-developed anal scent glands (characteristic of all skunks) that can emit a highly unpleasant odor when the skunk feels threatened by another animal.

The skunk is crepuscular. Beginning its search for food at dawn and dusk, it feeds on mice, eggs, carrion, insects, grubs, and berries. At sunrise, it retires to its den, which may be in a ground burrow, or beneath a building, boulder, or rock pile. While the male dens by itself, several females may live together. The Striped Skunk does not hibernate.

In February or March, mating occurs, and by early May, after a 42- to 63-day gestation, a litter of about five or six young is born. The young are born blind, and follow their mother until late June or July.

The Striped Skunk is beneficial as a consumer of rodent and insect populations, rarely eating farmers' poultry. The species can be domesticated as a pet in the United States (not all states), Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy. http://en.wikipedia.org/

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