Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: South Dakota
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources


White, K. M., J. D. Stafford, and R. C. Lonsinger. 2023 The first documented interaction between a long-tailed weasel (Mustela frenata) and a plains spotted skunk (Spilogale interrupta) carcass. Ecology and Evolution 13(1):e9758. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9758

Abstract

A novel interaction between a long-tailed weasel (Mustela frenata) and a plains spotted skunk (Spilogale interrupta) carcass is detailed. In November 2020, a farmer in Edmunds County in north-central South Dakota sent in a video recording of a long-tailed weasel with a spotted skunk carcass. Location of the event, carcass condition, and recorded behavior of the long-tailed weasel offers probable, but unconfirmed, evidence that the spotted skunk was killed by the long-tailed weasel.