South Dakota people studying spotted skunks

Where did all those old civet cats go...?

About a year ago (or so) there was a thread on here talking about spotted skunks in general and how they've declined in the Great Plains over time. My dad used to talk about "civet cats" on their farm about 60 miles sw of Sioux Falls but I've never seen a spotted skunk in any condition through the lower Big Sioux to James River drainages. I know Law Dog has caught a few more towards the Missouri. Anyway, it appears that South Dakota State U wildlife people and SD GF&P are teaming up to get more data on the little pepes in the state. From last year's tman thread, I guess its about time...

South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks and South Dakota State University are looking for sightings of EASTERN SPOTTED SKUNKS.
» The ecology, status, and distribution of spotted skunks (a.k.a. polecat, civet cat) in South Dakota are not well known.
» Please help us understand the status of the species in the state.
» Report any past or present locations from sightings, roadkills, game cameras, or traps.

WAYS TO REPORT
» Upload your information to the South Dakota Spotted Skunks project at: inaturalist.org/projects/south-dakota-spottedskunks,
or use the iNaturalist mobile app.
» Email photographs with GPS coordinates (enable location services for photos on your smart phone) to:
southdakotaspottedskunks@ gmail.com.
Location information from trappers will not be shared publicly.

STRIPED SKUNK
Narrow white stripe down the center of the face
Long, fluffy, black tail
Usually two white stripes down the back

EASTERN SPOTTED SKUNK
About the size of a large eastern gray squirrel
Upsidedown triangle on forehead and narrow white stripe beneath the eye
Bushy tail is white underneath and at the tip
Two stripes run diagonal across each hip; a few white spots on the rear end.

I have been working with a few projects looking into the Eastern Spotted Skunks one was out of IA the current one in TX. This is the first time I heard of SD looking into them and not seeing them as just vermin.

I called up to Pierre several years ago looking to see if any efforts were being made to reintroduce them back into their past range in other States. It was like talking to “Dell representative number 301” from India all I got was a big red tape runaround. It was a idea they could not comprehend even, it was like I was speaking German to them. I was floored by the response that I received from 2 different people the were in outer space it seemed like.

After I asked about the idea the response I received was you could only possess 1 of any varmint as a pet? I was like your not understanding what I’m saying here. It never got better the local guy called me and that was about the same reply that I got from him.

I was a big waste of time and aggravating at the same time never called again did not see the point of it. If they want to get hold of me great I’ll help them any way I can I know more then a dozen places a guy could catch some. Not sure why my local Game and Fish people have not put them in contact with me it seems strange.

Law dog that would make to much sense and also cost way less money so not going to happen

Law Dog- Consider it done. I'll pm you if I get through on the SDSU side. Grad students tend to be a bit more motivated than permanent state employees who have nothing to gain from it. I love tilting windmills against the bureaucrats...

I did some trapping For the SDSU ppl for the last 3 years, i believe the same ones on this spotted skunk project, mainly trapping canines for them for a nest predator survey. We trapped some spotted skunks and they got all exicited. They had some biologist out of washington state come down here taking blood samples and such and trapping specificly for them. I believe last year they got 23. I stayed in my lane but talking with them The word was that the out of state biologist believe that the spotted skunk should be on the endangered species list and they were wanting to do a survey to determine if that was the fact on the ground.

I have the SDSU Grad students info Law Dog if you want it just PM me

Send it no problem it's not the guy from down by Winner is it?


More around then a guy thinks out there they are pretty spooky and love the thicker cover the bigger the mess the more rats and mice the more civets you will see.

No its a Gal, They are doing the research in Faulk County

That will work will see if she has a passion for the little guys like I do. Thanks

Yup, she was pretty good to deal with younger gal

I don’t know how big of a genetic gap is between the eastern spotted and the spotted skunks here in Washington but we have plenty if they ever wanted to transplant

From what I've seen here on tman, I think Washington state (wet side, right?) is about the epicenter for spotted skunks now.. I think they are few and far between in most of the Great Plains states.

Buy a farm clean it up real nice and poof the civets are gone!

The western spotted skunk and the eastern spotted skunk are two different critters, and transplants from Washington wouldn't work very well. Back in the 60s they were all lumped together, then a researcher at the Univ of Idaho (I believe) found that the western form had delayed implantation while the eastern form did not. Makes it basically impossible for them the interbreed because they have different breeding seasons. Therefore, the species was split into Spilogale putorius (eastern) and Spilogale gracilis (western). Even though they look pretty much alike, they are different critters.

Jack

Just pick them up and rub them together like your starting a fire while yelling breed suckers breed! J/K

That is why I was so ticked because we have a workable population that still could be relocated back to its original habitat without damaging what we have now that can handle some trapping pressure. My area is recovering from distemper a few years back but is stable so I don’t go after them now until they become better established, had we moved civets when they were booming we would of been further ahead now maybe.

There must be some wildlife areas, State parks or nature centers that the could be established in with useable habitat to get the ball rolling.

I wouldn’t get to excited, they’ve been doing spotted skunk research here in North Georgia and Western North Carolina for a couple years now. The biologists have ask for permission to access public land across several private properties for camera traps and other research related ideas they waste money on.

They locate them on cameras then put in trapping time they are not tough to catch just to locate plus the civets seem to be more social then the striped skunks and group up it’s not uncommon to find several at the same locations.

Most of the work being done that I hear about is done by collage student and University’s not the Game Depts directly so time and money is not big factor there.

Thanks for caring. Imo they are about extinct in Ne. I havent seen or caught one since the early 80's. Like law dog said, they were always around messy farms, that had lots of cover and junk piles.

Personally I would be cautious in helping any biologist or college. Here's how some would like to see it go:
A - study an animal you know nothing about for a few years
B - find less than you think there should be
C - lobby to get them enlisted as endangered
D - outlaw trapping to prevent accidental catches

We lose and they win.

The great thing is there is a large band of them along the Missouri River from the NE border to ND if we help establish that maybe they will do some good with the population we have. If we do nothing and the population numbers are way off we could lose all around either way the truth will be the truth just hope the GFP picks up the ball some day while we have them to work with.

That's good to read about the population, Lawdog. It's too bad they didn't take you seriously on getting a transplant program going.

Jerry,
I think you need to see if you can find Silka Kempinen (SP). I believe she initiated the Spotted skunk study. She contacted me after my last Delta Study about the skunks I'd caught. I don't have her contact info anymore.
IMO there are a lot more of the little stinkers in parts of SD than they know of. They will need to adjust their equipment and methods to really find out how many are there.

So far I think we got a winner here now gents
Spot on

Yep most cages are not tight enough to hold them I bet many are caught and never accounted for by many trappers that have caught and lost them. Even my 14X14X36 cages are wired for holding civets. If a guy has a few misses swap out traps and you might hold the next civet.

What gets me is if you just study them and then do nothing or close the season your just delaying the known result. If the feds want to change the direction they are heading then they need to establish a few areas where they can live and thrive.

Trapping is not the problem loss of habitat is by far a bigger threat to them I hear chemicals but I get them in heavy use areas as long as the cover is there. If you have lots of farm types of trash, old structures, uncontrolled weeds, od hay stacks, abandon equipment you could hold civets here.

I talked with 2 people today from SDSU both sounded like younger ladies I need to send location maps to the one doing the civet research when I pull up her info later today. She can get the local skunk tour whenever she’s in town it’s free.

We had a good thread about civets dated 3/28/18 that has some excellent photos of eastern and western spotted skunks along with some information about their current population status. Title was RE: Buddies civet came back.

Each time we have discussed civets there has been a poster who stated that they are common in Texas. Can several Texas trappers and/or fur buyers state for sure that these are the same little spotted skunks that are pictured in the photos from South Dakota,Oregon and Washington?

I talked to a Kara I will be getting my info to her she’s doing the civet research now I will see how that goes we seen to be on the same page in many ways I hope she has the drive to do this right, fingers crossed.

We might need to look into a Underground Railroad for civets to save them.

For folks who are younger or from other parts of the US, these little skunks were very common in the upper Midwest as recently as the 1940s. An Iowa study in the 1930s 0r 40s estimated their populations at 5 to 6 PER SQUARE MILE and there were over 100,000 pelts SOLD in one year. In Minnesota, the peak number sold was reported to be about 20,000 in one year but earlier harvests were likely larger. In the last 20 years or so, only South Dakota(of midwestern states) has reported any harvest and total numbers reported sold have not reached 500 in any year.

https://trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/6201982/buddies-civet-came-back

I believe Texas has both depending where you are at in Texas.

Lots of data not reported in the past I would catch a dozen every season and release anything after catching 2 in the same spot, a lot of guys won’t deal with skunks for anything. I have not kept civets in the last several trapping seasons only a few for research road kills I pick up but not many are hit on the road as the don’t travel much.

My thought is civets are not nomads like the striped skunk are, making the civets environment habitat critical with a need for a excessIve rodent population that is always abundant for a food supply. With a large area around them the mass of junk and cover is a endless supply of food. Take that away and the rodents go with it and then the civets.

From my experience they have to have cover from raptors. They don't go out in any kind of open area. Used to be some every year around the house. It was logged in 2008 and haven't seen sign of any until this year. Brush is getting back to their liking.

I was working on my tankless water heater last night the phone rings a guy I don’t know looking fo some beaver lure that lives about 60 miles South of me it seems he talked to the guy I helped skin a beaver for the other day.

During our conservation about trapping I asked him about getting civets and yep they get a few every year, I think that is the case in many places and he doesn’t do anything with them like I often hear. I think their numbers in that band along the river is under reported as some don’t give them a second thought.

L.D. ,please keep information coming as it comes to you. I am interested in this. The spotted skunks and weasels use to be around here and now there are none. We cant let this happen everywhere.

Interesting story about a civet. Almost 15 years ago my father and myself were staying in a cabin at snake creek. It was November during the west river deer season. We had a buck head laying right by the deck. I get up in the middle of the night to take a leak and go out on the deck with a flashlight and here is a civet eating on the deer head. He ran back under the deck, must have been his home. The next three nights I left some scraps out for him and seen him each night eating on the deer scrapes. I wonder how many people knew there was a skunk living under that cabin all summer long. Cool little critters.

Picked up a large county map from the Courthouse picked a paper one, I was afraid a laminated one would not hold the markings as well. Sat down and started putting X's on the places I had run into them over the last 20 years. The State Trapper a guy I have know for many years just got the Email the other day but I already had the map he was surprised I was ahead of the game when I talked to him, we talked trapping for 2 hours. LOL The plan is to put our info together and send it in at the same time I dropped off mine on Monday and sent in a report today before I seen this post was up again.

I have added the question, "Have you ever run into any civets over the years" into my conservations now most have seen civets over the years and know others that had also.

I will try to post a Facebook link not sure if it work but will give it a shot. Will post a handstand pic I have also its a hoot.





https://www.facebook.com/jerry.herb...021/3828666687173658/?type=3&theater

What Humptulips mentions about cover is "spot on" (pardon the pun).

Also, a lot of the diet for the little guys are insects so it does make sense to me that the green revolution that started in the late 40's would likely have an effect. Civets also have a very complicated reproductive system with delayed implantation. Some of the pesticides being used these days are hormone disrupters. Can't be good especially with the magnification of dosages that civets would get by eating sick or dead insects.

I have seen Oregon game commission reports from the 40's where tens of thousands were harvested in our state. We still have a good population but I am seeing less of them the last few years in my normal haunts.

Hi there,

I just wanted to introduce myself and address some of the things mentioned above. My name is Kara White and I'm the PhD student at SDSU conducting this new research project on civet cats in the state of South Dakota. I know that trappers and scientific researchers both feel like they're misunderstood by the opposite party but I believe that we have common goals. You are correct that in South Dakota and across the majority of its range not much is known about the eastern spotted skunk (civet cat). The scientific community is now trying to remedy this fact. As you may also know the plains subspecies of the eastern spotted skunk has already been petitioned to be listed on the ESA and an initial finding found that a listing was "warranted." However, much of the research that has been driving this listing petition has been conducted in the Ozarks and SE part of the United States, where climate and habitat is much different from our own in SD. To this date very little information on plains spotted skunks exists. In South Dakota we believe that the civet cat population is much more robust than in other parts of the country where they have historically occurred. However, we need locational information and reported sightings to confirm this belief. This is where trappers and biologists (who are often trappers themselves) interests align. As a biologist and species conservationist it is never our goal or desire to see a species listed as endangered. Quite frankly, we consider this a loss, too. If anyone reads this and has caught or seen a civet cat at any point in time please consider reaching out to me directly through private message or contacting me at: kara.white@sdstate.edu or 605-651-0978. Known locations will be used to create a predictive heat map of where civet cats are more or less likely to occur in the state. Location data will not be shared publicly. Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to building partnerships and working with you all over the next few years.

As a trapper I would never want to see a species extirpated from the ecosystem.I have a vested intrest in making sure all the animal populations are healthy and sustainable at levels to harvest in perpetuity.
If we dont know the status(numbers) of a species we may never know that it is in trouble.
Now,I am talking about a species in their core habitat.
The trouble recently that trappers including myself have with the so called "scientific community"is the shenanigans going on to assuage the animal protectionist groups that often fund individual "biologists",and keep their funding going.It is well known that the animal protectionist groups will only continue funding those that produce the results they want to see.
Another thing is the BS of taking a species that is on the periphery of its normal ecological range,slapping a new taxonomic identity on it to" distinguish" it from its identical genus in the core habitat and then declaring it "threatened" or "endangered".
Biologists and trappers worked together for many years to help maintain the health of furbearerers (and game animals) at levels that were sustainably harvestable.And Trappers will continue to work with Biologists who work for the good of the species and to help fur harvesters maintain their industry and lifestyle,
We will NOT work with so called "Biologists" who promote the pseudoscience of animal protectionism and animal rights groups.(not saying you are)

In my opinion any trapper organization that agrees to its trappers taking part in any studies needs to thouroughly vet that biologist and insist on the work being directed at returning or maintaining species to sustainable harvestable numbers for hunters trappers and the other outdoors people who benefit from proper wildlife management.

Hi Kara, nice to have you on board with tman!!

As I said early on in this thread, I've never caught a spotted skunk but remember my dad talking about "civet cats" down on their farm in the 1930s-1950s in Hutchinson Co., in the lower James River valley. You already know and have talked to Jerry H. who probably knows as much about spotted skunks, at least in south-central SD, as anyone. I hope other SOuth Dakota tman people can help you if they run into (no pun intended) any "civet cats". I look forward to reading your dissertation when its done (yes, I have read student dissertations!).

Your description of what is known about spotted skunks in the northern plains sounds a lot like what I heard about what was known about the Topeka shiner (a pretty minnow) up in this part of its range as well. I and one of my colleagues played "hosts" to a meeting about the Topeka shiner half a dozen years ago because out federal facility was centrally located for researchers. Not being a fish biologist, what I took away from that multi-day meeting was that we still needed to know a lot of things about that little fish. There was no real "smoking gun" on why it appears to be declining substantially in its southern and eastern range (KS, MO, IA) while appearing to hold its own, especially in SD, in its northern range. I can take people to local creeks here that are just as intensively farmed as any place else and they show up in sampling, maybe not every time, but enough. South Dakota people were sampling more in tributaries of the James River and finding new populations while the Minnesota guy who had been doing shiner research for their DNR for 20 years couldn't find any real patterns over there. I'm not saying that there isn't any problems for the Topeka shiner but that we just don't know as much as we wish. Funny how critters do that to us. That's one reason why research still needs to be done on a lot of "minor" critters in the ecosystem, we simply don't know that much about them, even after all these years...

We used to have them here in my part of southern mn. The retired farmer who lived next to my parents talked about them I didn't know what he was talking about at the time. This would gave been in the 80's, and he was talking about some time in the past. I've never seen or caught one.

There is a reason why they disappeared.
I'm guessing the way the landscape has been altered?
No "scientific study" is gonna bring em back!!!
Farming/ranching folks could give ² craps about a spotted skunk and aint gonna give up a bit or land to find out.
There is ZERO reason to study them and waste $ on them.
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