THE CRITTER AND A WORD ABOUT THE HABITAT

Striped Skunk, Upper Mississippi Valley, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

A little hike deep into the marsh of the Green Island wetlands in the Mississippi Valley started with a nice surprise. With my eyes mostly up and looking out for birds, I almost stumbled over this Striped Skunk that was obviously in search for food. After we discovered each other the skunk kept searching, had still an eye on me ones in a while but wasn’t bothered much by my presence. I kept my distance, knowing that they can spray their musk, with its very powerful odor, several meters from the two scent glands they have around their anus. If you look at this beautiful animal it is easy to understand why it was one of North America's most sought-after fur-bearers.

I took a new lens I just had acquired for the first time on a hike and wanted to learn how it performs and how it handles in the field. The Nikon NIKKOR Z 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 VR S is only since a few days in my bag and using 400 mm focal length was perfect for this shot, keeping the distance and not making the skunk feeling threatened. I still cropped the picture a little bit because at the end of winter there is a lot of dead plant material scattered everywhere in the marsh and I tried to keep as much as possible out of the frame, especially in the foreground.

Green Island Wetlands

The second picture is a view across the marsh at Green Island, with the Illinois side of the Mississippi River in the background. This was shot with the same lens at 100 mm. It was quite cold during the last few days and most of the water was frozen again. The photo shows also the dilemma we face in many parts of the Upper Mississippi Valley. Floodplain forests along the Upper Mississippi River are experiencing mass die-offs, with thousands of trees lost due to prolonged, intensified flooding caused by climate change and altered river hydrology. These "dead zones" are compounded by invasive species, specifically the emerald ash borer.

I have visited and photographed the Green Island Wetlands since 2011 and even if I shoot mostly wildlife pictures, the landscape images from the past document some of the wildlife habitat loss we can see.

NATURE CLICKS #555 - STRIPED SKUNK

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”.