The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is asking you to be on the lookout for the eastern spotted skunk.
It’s a species that hasn’t officially been documented in the state in more than three decades, and the department wants to use the data to help biologists determine the current distribution and conservation needs of the species.
Jennifer Manuel, the furbearer biologist with the State of Louisiana, says the eastern spotted skunk is the smallest species of skunk.
“They have this really distinctive spotted pattern, so white spots on the black coat,” says Manuel. “And then they’ll have this really brushy tail, almost very similar to a squirrel tail.”
Manuel says the eastern spotted skunk has a unique behavior.
“When they get startled or frightened, they’ll do a little handstand,” Manuel says. “They’ll stand up on their front legs and kind of stick their butt up in the air and do this little handstand to make themselves look bigger and display their prominent pattern as a way to kind of scare away predators.”
Manuel says the eastern spotted skunk is very good at pest control.
“They were frequently found around farms and grain storage eating mice and other insects — beetles, grasshoppers and that sort of thing,” Manuel says.
Manuel says if you see an eastern spotted skunk, you can greatly help LDWF by doing one simple thing.
“Take a picture with your phone and send it to us just so that we can see where they might still occur,” says Manuel.
