Striped Skunk moving along the banks in the Green Island Wetlands, Iowa
Since last weekend we have warm weather and with it came the arrival of several bird species from the south, some of them earlier than usual. But before I get into that I like to show you a couple more photos from last weekend. After I had the kayak stored back on the roof of the car I decided to go for another round in the Green Island Wetlands, this time by car.
Pretty soon I came across this beautiful Striped Skunk, who moved quickly along the banks of the lakes and ponds. I was actually very happy because I have seen more dead skunks than living creatures here in the Midwest so far, mostly killed by vehicles. Until now there was no usable photo of a Striped Skunk in my library. I stopped several times and tried to get a shot from the side or front of the critter. The skunk knew I followed but kept moving and sometimes stopped and licked its nice fur.
Erected tail, first warning. The chemical defense system on its backside was luckily not employed!
Finally, shortly before crossing a small pond and disappearing between the reeds, the skunk stopped, turned around, and erected its tail as a warning to me. I watched this guy very closely. The last thing I wanted to happen was getting sprayed by its two highly developed scent glands, one on each side of the anus, containing the very unpleasant smelling musk. There is a reason that in Germany this animal is commonly called ”Stinktier”, which translates to ”stink-animal”.