Spotted skunks are common locally in the coastal sage scrub association
and lower chaparral association on the coastal face of the mountains,
mainly between 1000 and 4000 feet elevation; but they have been reported
from Icehouse Canyon at 5000 feet, and I took one above the mouth of
this canyon at 5500 feet elevation. A few spotted skunks may inhabit the
lower desert slope of the mountains; here feces thought to be those of
spotted skunks have been found, and a bobcat trapped near the head of
Grandview Canyon smelled strongly of skunk.
The spotted skunk usually was in rocky habitats. In the sage flats, sign
(mostly feces and tracks) usually was near rock piles and around human
developments such as rock walls, old outbuildings and houses. Specimens
taken in the chaparral were trapped near granite outcroppings.
In the autumn of 1950, at my house near the mouth of Palmer Canyon, a
family of spotted skunks lived under the floors. Night after night they
scratched under the floor and chattered in high-pitched rasping notes,
and on several evenings one walked complacently into the living room. It
finally became necessary to trap and deport most of these skunks. In
all, nine skunks were trapped; these probably represented more than the
original residents. One male was descented and allowed to remain. It
spent most of the daylight hours asleep in an old shower room where the
many gaps between the rock work and the boards allowed him entrance.
Through no special efforts on our part he became tame enough to climb
over us in order to get food left on the kitchen sink, and he would eat
calmly while we sat only inches away from him.
Feces from sage areas contained mostly remains of insects and small
rodents whereas many samples of feces from chaparral areas contained, in
addition, shells of snails. Feces examined represent all months of the
year.
_Specimens examined._--Los Angeles County: mouth of San Antonio
Canyon, 2 (PC).