Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: South Dakota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
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.