First Record of Consumption of a Spilogale putorius (Eastern
Spotted Skunk) by an Alligator mississippiensis (American
Alligator)
Stephen N. Harris, Jordan B. Holmes, and David S. Jachowski
Southeastern Naturalist, Volume 18, Issue 2 (2019): N10–N15
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2019 Southeastern Naturalist Notes Vol. 18, No. 2
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S.N. Harris, J.B. Holmes, and D.S. Jachowski
First Record of Consumption of a Spilogale putorius (Eastern
Spotted Skunk) by an Alligator mississippiensis (American
Alligator)
Stephen N. Harris1,*, Jordan B. Holmes1, and David S. Jachowski1
Abstract - Here, we detail the first confirmed consumption of a Spilogale putorius (Eastern Spotted
Skunk) by an Alligator mississippiensis (American Alligator, hereafter, Alligator). In April 2017 in
Osceola County, FL, we tracked a radio-collared Eastern Spotted Skunk to a wetland and discovered
its remains inside the stomach of a deceased Alligator. We conducted a necropsy on the Alligator, but
were unable to definitively determine the cause of mortality for either the Alligator or the Eastern
Spotted Skunk. We believe this event represents the first record of a crocodilian predating a mephitid.
Although the cause of the Alligator’s death was unconfirmed, we believe there is a possibility that
the Alligator succumbed due to toxicosis brought on by its digestion of Eastern Spotted Skunk spray.
Spilogale putorius L. (Eastern Spotted Skunk) is a small omnivorous carnivore native
to most of eastern North America. The species is known to occur in a variety of habitats,
including forest (Lesmeister et al. 2009, McCullough and Fritzell 1984, Thorne et al. 2017)
and prairie ecosystems (Crabb 1948). The subspecies considered endemic to peninsular
Florida, S. p. ambarvalis Bangs (Florida Spotted Skunk), has been documented in shrubdominated
coastal strand habitat (Kinlaw et al. 1995), treeless dry prairies (Fletcher et al.
2010), and even on beaches (Howell 1906).
Cause-specific mortality has not been extensively studied in the Eastern Spotted Skunk.
Lesmeister et al. (2010) conducted the first detailed demographic study of Eastern Spotted
Skunks in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas and determined that mean annual survival
across sexes and age groups was ~35%. Of 19 mortalities documented in that study, 17 (89%)
were attributed to predation events. Twelve of these mortalities were caused by avian predators,
all of which were attributed to Bubo virginianus Gmelin (Great Horned Owl). The 5 other
predation-linked mortalities were caused by undetermined mammalian predators. Other observers
have reported predation events by the Great Horned Owl (Errington et al. 1940), Canis
lupus familiaris L. (Domestic Dog) and Felis catus L. (Domestic Cat) (Crabb 1948), and Lynx
rufus Schreber (Bobcat; Schwartz and Schwartz 1981). Documented predators of the closely
related S. gracilis Merriam (Western Spotted Skunk) include Aquila chrysaetos L. (Golden
Eagle; von Bloeker 1937). Here, we report the first known consumption of an Eastern Spotted
Skunk by an Alligator mississippiensis Daudin (American Alligator, hereafter, Alligator).
On 15 March 2017, we fitted an adult male Eastern Spotted Skunk, weighing ~334 g,
with a very high frequency (VHF) radio transmitter collar (Model M1525 [12 g]; Advanced
Telemetry Systems, Inc., Isanti, MN) at Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area, Osceola
County, FL. We collared this Eastern Spotted Skunk as part of a study on den site selection
of Eastern Spotted Skunks occurring in a dry prairie ecosystem (Harris 2018), a natural
community characterized by an expansive, treeless plain of low grasses and shrubs (Florida
Natural Areas Inventory 2010). This radio transmitter contained a motion-sensitive mortality
switch that would alter the radio pulse rate after 6 h of inactivity, indicating that the
collared Eastern Spotted Skunk had either died or lost its collar. We also marked the Eastern
1Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634.
*Corresponding author - esenaitch@gmail.com.
Manuscript Editor: Roger W. Perry
Notes of the Southeastern Naturalist, Issue 18/2, 2019
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S.N. Harris, J.B. Holmes, and D.S. Jachowski
Spotted Skunk with 2 uniquely numbered ear tags to aid in identification of this individual
if subsequently recaptured. During this study, we followed American Society of Mammalogists
guidelines and complied with Clemson University Animal Care and Use Committee
protocol (permit #AUP2015-042) for all trapping, processing, collaring, and radio-tracking
of Eastern Spotted Skunks (Sikes et al. 201 1).
After collaring this Eastern Spotted Skunk, we tracked it over the next few weeks,
homing to within 5 m of its location on each occasion. On 28 March 2017, we tracked the
Eastern Spotted Skunk to an inundated, artificial borrow pit (a depression wetland created
when soil is excavated and removed for use elsewhere). This site was surrounded by dry
prairie habitat ~1039 m from its initial capture location, and north of a slough that was
Figure 1. Locations where a radio-collared adult male Eastern Spotted Skunk was captured, relocated,
and found dead inside of a deceased American Alligator between 15 March 2017 and 13 April 2017 at
Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area, Osceola County, FL.
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S.N. Harris, J.B. Holmes, and D.S. Jachowski
partially dry due to low water levels at the time (Fodderstack Slough; Fig. 1). The radio
transmitter was not emitting a mortality signal; thus, we presumed that the Eastern Spotted
Skunk was still alive. We tracked this Eastern Spotted Skunk subsequently on 31 March
2018 and found it to be essentially in the same location as 3 d prior, and concluded once
again that the Eastern Spotted Skunk was likely resting in thic k vegetation.
We tracked the Eastern Spotted Skunk for the final time on 10 April 2017 to the borrow
pit once again, but this time the radio transmitter was emitting a mortality signal and
appeared to be coming from the water near the southern edge of the pit, ~46 m from the
Eastern Spotted Skunk’s previous location. We mounted an exhaustive search the next day
(11 April 2017) to recover the submerged radio transmitter. We manually searched through
the submerged vegetation in water that was approximately 50 to 120-cm deep until we
came across what we determined to be the leg of an Alligator protruding from a tussock of
submerged vegetation about 90 cm deep. At this time, we were unable to determine if the
Alligator was alive or dead, so we abandoned our search for the day. On 12 April 2017, we
returned to determine if the Alligator had moved from its previous location, which it had
not. On 13 April 2017, we determined that the Alligator was likely deceased, as the location
of the collar did not appear to move and the mortality signal continued to transmit. At this
point we were able to recover the Alligator (total length [snout to tail tip] = ~2.4 m) from
the pit and confirmed that it was indeed dead (Fig. 2).
Although the Alligator smelled of decay, we documented no external signs of decomposition
and noted no signs of physical trauma or injuries to the animal. Because of the
remote location of the study site and the lack of a suitable facility nearby, we conducted
a field necropsy ~6 h after we recovered the animal (with permission from Florida Fish
Figure 2. A deceased American Alligator that was removed from a borrow pit on 13 April 2017 at
Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area, Osceola County, FL. This Alligator had consumed a radiocollared
Eastern Spotted Skunk that had been tracked to the borrow pit on previous occasions. An
external assessment of the animal suggested that it had no inju ries or trauma.
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S.N. Harris, J.B. Holmes, and D.S. Jachowski
and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologists at the site). We discovered in the Alligator’s
stomach a number of Pomacea sp. (apple snail) opercula, bits of woody material,
and clumps of black and white fur, bones, and claws consistent with an Eastern Spotted
Skunk. We also found 1 ear tag with a number matching that of the Eastern Spotted Skunk
we had tracked to the pit. The radio transmitter was lodged in the esophagus of the Alligator,
above the lower esophageal sphincter. The transmitter and its battery appeared
completely intact with no leaking or corrosion present, and the transmitter indeed worked
for months after the event without failing. Due to the circumstances of our discovery and
the advanced state of decomposition of the Eastern Spotted Skunk in the Alligator’s stomach,
we were unable to determine whether the Eastern Spotted Skunk’s cause of death was
predation by the Alligator, or if the Eastern Spotted Skunk died from other causes and
had been scavenged by the Alligator (Bangs 2014, Grigg and Kirshner 2015, Nifong et al.
2011, Webster et al. 2016). We were also unable to determine the time or cause of death
of the Alligator from our necropsy. It is possible the Alligator had already consumed the
Eastern Spotted Skunk on one of our previous occasions when we had tracked the Eastern
Spotted Skunk to the borrow pit.
Alligators are known to be highly opportunistic predators, feeding on a wide variety
of organisms. Numerous studies on the diet of Alligators have documented consumption of
crustaceans, insects, fish, birds, arachnids, gastropods, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals
(Fogarty and Albury 1968, Kellogg 1929, McNease and Joanen 1977, Valentine et al. 1972,
Wolfe et al. 1987). However, to our knowledge, no Eastern Spotted Skunk species has ever
previously been reported in the literature as a confirmed food item of Alligators. Although
most of the ephemeral depression marshes across the dry prairie landscape at the site were
dry when this event occurred, the borrow pit where we discovered the Alligator still had >1
m of standing water present at its deepest point. In 2017, we observed most Alligators at
the study site in the slough (Fig. 1) ~400 m from the pit, but the slough was primarily dry
during this event. It is possible the Eastern Spotted Skunk ventured closer to the inundated
borrow pit than it would normally, due to the limited availability of water on the landscape,
and was taken by the Alligator at the water’s edge. Conversely, it is possible the Alligator
encountered and preyed upon the Eastern Spotted Skunk as the latter traversed dry prairie
habitat in search of water. Lastly, the possibilities exist that the Alligator discovered and
scavenged the deceased Eastern Spotted Skunk, or that the Alligator hijacked the Eastern
Spotted Skunk carcass after it was killed by another predator in an instance of interspecific
kleptoparasitism (Platt et al. 2007).
Although we were unable to confirm the cause of mortality in the case of the Alligator,
there are a number of possibilities as to how the Alligator died. First, it is possible that the
Alligator died from an ailment unrelated to its consumption of the Eastern Spotted Skunk.
Second, it is possible that the Eastern Spotted Skunk’s transmitter became lodged in the
esophagus of the Alligator, eventually leading to the asphyxiation of the animal. However,
when necropsied, only the transmitter and zip-tie collar were still in the Alligator’s esophagus
and the esophagus was not obstructed, with the rest of the Eastern Spotted Skunk in
an advanced stage of decomposition in the Alligator’s stomach. Likewise, the Alligator appeared
to be in a healthy condition externally (Fig. 2), and crocodilians can survive for long
periods without feeding (Garnett 1986, Uriona et al. 2005), so it is unlikely that the animal
starved to death.
Finally, there is the potential that the Alligator died from Eastern Spotted Skunk spray
toxicosis; that the chemical components in the Eastern Spotted Skunk’s spray led to the
death of the Alligator when it was absorbed into the Alligator’s body. All skunk species have
the ability to deter potential predators by expelling a noxious spray, also referred to as skunk
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S.N. Harris, J.B. Holmes, and D.S. Jachowski
musk, from a pair of glands situated around the anus (Wood 1999). This skunk spray contains
oxidative compounds, including thiols, which can cause damage to the hemoglobin in
red blood cells (Means 2013, Zaks et al. 2005). While all skunk spray contains thiols, there
are some species-specific differences in the chemical composition of the spray (Wood et al.
2002). Ingestion of these compounds can lead to the development of Heinz body hemolytic
anemia and methemoglobinemia, which can result in death (Zaks et al. 2005). Most animals
that predate and eat skunks likely discriminate what portions of the skunk they consume,
avoiding the animal’s anal musk glands. However, Alligators are known to eat small prey
items whole (Grigg and Kirshner 2015), and perhaps because they rarely encounter skunks,
Alligators, are naïve to the potential danger of consuming them. As the Eastern Spotted
Skunk decomposed in the stomach of the Alligator, it is possible the Alligator died as the
oxidative compounds entered the bloodstream during digestion.
Reports of animals dying after being exposed to skunk spray are rare; however, there
are 3 documented cases of Domestic Dogs exhibiting some combination of Heinz body
anemia and methemoglobinemia after being sprayed by a skunk (Means 2013, Zaks et al.
2005). One of these dogs died as a result of its ailments, though a causal relationship between
skunk spray exposure and the animal’s death could not be confirmed (Means 2013).
There are similar anecdotal reports of other dogs becoming sick or dying after exposure to
skunk spray and with no other diagnosable disease or condition present. Additionally, one
study found that a captive Ailurus fulgens Cuvier (Red Panda) developed Heinz body anemia
and died after being sprayed by a skunk, and in vitro testing of skunk spray showed
that it caused oxidative damage to canine, feline, and Red Panda red blood cells (Fierro et
al. 2013).
Our discovery represents the first known occurrence of the consumption of a skunk species
by any crocodilian. Although there are few conservation or management implications
from our findings for either the Eastern Spotted Skunk or the American Alligator, our report
adds novel information of the natural histories of both species. Our findings add another
taxon to the list of known food items of American Alligators. Similarly, our discovery suggests
that Eastern Spotted Skunks may be vulnerable to predation by American Alligators
in areas where they are sympatric.
Acknowledgments. We thank M. Lerow for assistance in the field during this discovery. Initial
discussion on the possibility of skunk spray toxicosis was prompted by A. Woodward. We also thank
T. Doonan, S. Glass, and C. Hannon for logistical support during this research. Additional support
for this research was provided through a US Fish and Wildlife Service Section 6 Endangered Species
Grant and by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
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