Southern Spotted Skunk

The southern spotted skunk, Spilogale angustifrons, is a mammal of the skunk family Mephitidae that ranges from southern Mexico to Costa Rica; it was once treated as a subspecies of the eastern spotted skunk. It grows to about 34 centimetres in length with a tail of 23 centimetres and weighs between 0.5 and 1 kilogram, with conspicuous black and white colouring that resembles the western spotted skunk, and anal glands that spray musk with considerable accuracy. Its range includes Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Belize, at altitudes up to 300 metres in dry rocky areas with scrub and open woodland and in farmland. It is nocturnal and secretive, climbing trees but mostly searching the ground for small mammals, insects, birds, eggs, grain and fruit. The IUCN rates it as least concern, though road building, wildfires and agricultural monoculture are named as chief threats.