Parturition in a Skunk, Mephitis mephitis hudsonica

Abstract

A northern plains striped skunk that had for two years been a part of the skunk colony at the Vivarium, was in rut and on March 12, was bred to a northern plains striped male. From March 15 to 18, she was bred each day to the same male and on the 18th, was bred both morning and afternoon, but thereafter she was consistently antagonistic and attacked the male each time he was placed in her cage. Her copulatory period had extended over seven days. The following observations on parturition were made at close range, for the floor of the female's cage was approximately at shoulder level so that at no time were the observer's eyes more than one to three feet from her and yet she was not disturbed and seemed to pay no attention to his movements which consisted entirely of making notes. Since such close proximity of an observer during parturition of a skunk is unusual, these observations seemed worth recording. On the morning of May 18 (67 days after the first copulation and 61 days after the last) this skunk was discovered in parturition. She had already given birth to one kit, had practically completed the process of cleaning it, and the kit was slowly crawling about on the cage floor. This birth is believed to have occurred within the preceding half-hour, probably at about 9:15 am. The female was still in labor and frequently tensed her …