Many people are aware that skunks have a smelly spray, and animals are also aware of it. When animals see the skunk and they see their stripes, they will keep away so that they are not sprayed. The spray of the skunk is known to be bad and some animals will choose to go hungry instead of attacking the skunks.



Striped white and black skunks are known just as striped skunks. The young skunks are born with the stripes. Even though the skunks when they are born do not have hair on their bodies, the stripes are more prominent.

The fur of the striped skunk is completely black and there is a thin stripe on the face. It runs from its forehead over the nose. The longest stripes are not specific in their pattern, and they will start in a triangular shape near the head. A triangle will then break into two stripes and they will come together near the foundation of the tail. The stripes of the skunks do not look the same. There are some that have thicker stripes and others that have thinner stripes. Some have longer or shorter stripes compared to others. Siblings may not have stripes that look the same. However, there are times that one skunk may appear free of the stripes while its brother has conspicuous and thick stripes. The skunk litter has five babies on average, and all will have their own patterns when it comes to the stripes.

The striped skunks are not the only type of skunks, but they are the most prevalent species. The basic colors of the skunk are white and black. Other colors are red and brown. A typical striped skunk has a V on the back with a white bar on eyes that runs from the forehead to the middle of the rostrum. The color pattern on the wild skunk is variable and it can even be totally black or totally white. A hooded skunk has 3 typical color patterns, but there are some variations. The skunks feature two thin stripes down the side of their body starting from the shoulder to the stomach or a single stripe that runs down the back of the forehead to reach the tail. The single white stripe can be interspersed with the black hair to give a gray appearance. A third color pattern combines the two. Such skunks may have a white bar over their eyes. A spotted skunk is not spotted in reality but has a series of stripes that have been interrupted. They run down the back and the sides of a skunk. The hog nosed, hooded and striped skunks are the same approximate size, which is the same as a house cat. Hog nosed skunks are the largest while the hooded skunk is the smallest of the three types.

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