. The Canadian field-naturalist. 1979 GUNSON AND BJORGE: STRIPED SKUNKS WINTER DENNING 253. Figure 1. Locations of 61 communal dens of Striped Skunks in prairie and parkland portions of Alberta and adjacent Saskatchewan. Dental ages of collected skunks were determined by counts of cemental annuli in canines (Rakowski 1972; Casey and Webster 1975) after histological prepar- ation at Matson's Audiovisual and Microscopic, Milltown, Montana. Live-captured young of the year were classified as juveniles until 31 December on the basis of weight, nipple development, and general appearance. Results and
. The Canadian field-naturalist. 1979 GUNSON AND BJORGE: STRIPED SKUNKS WINTER DENNING 253. Figure 1. Locations of 61 communal dens of Striped Skunks in prairie and parkland portions of Alberta and adjacent Saskatchewan. Dental ages of collected skunks were determined by counts of cemental annuli in canines (Rakowski 1972; Casey and Webster 1975) after histological prepar- ation at Matson's Audiovisual and Microscopic, Milltown, Montana. Live-captured young of the year were classified as juveniles until 31 December on the basis of weight, nipple development, and general appearance. Results and Discussion Location and Description of Dens Our searches for winter dens were directed prima- rily at rural, usually abandoned, buildings; thus the precise proportional use of buildings versus burrows, culverts, and other possible locations during winter was not determined. Of 73 communal ( >1 skunk) dens, 72 were located under buildings; one was in a culvert. Of 44 solitary (1 skunk) dens, 37 were under buildings, five were in culverts, and two were in ground burrows. Five of the six culvert dens were located in the southern prairie region. Both ground burrows were located at Tofield after extensive searching and tracking in snow during early winter 1971-72. The relatively large number of female skunks (see next section) under some buildings and the availability of other buildings without skunks, but used during previous winters, suggested that most female skunks, especially in the parkland, denned under buildings. During a depopulation at Tofield in December 1974, 19 (53%) of 36 female skunks tagged during June to October of that year were removed from six communal dens. Depopulation was incomplete at one den and skunks could not be removed from one other potential communal den because of its concrete structure. The above, and probable losses from death and emigration between summer and winter, support our belief that the majority of female skunks in the parkland den unde
Size: 1765px × 1416px
Photo credit: © Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorottawafieldnaturalistsclub, bookcentury1900, bookcolle
