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Predators

Raccoon, Procyon lotor

Camp Rio Vista, 8 October 2002

photos © by tony gallucci

Hog-nosed Skunk, Conepatus mesoleucus

Hog-nosed Skunk, Conepatus mesoleucus

Camp Rio Vista, 31 August 2002

photos © by tony gallucci

Hog-nosed Skunk, Conepatus mesoleucus

Camp Rio Vista, 2 September 2002

photos © by tony gallucci

Hog-nosed Skunk, Conepatus mesoleucus

Camp Rio Vista, 5 September 2002

photos © by tony gallucci

Striped Skunk, Mephitis mephitis

Striped Skunk, Mephitis mephitis

Camp Rio Vista, 29 August 2002

photos © by tony gallucci

Striped Skunk, Mephitis mephitis

Camp Rio Vista, 2 September 2002

photos © by tony gallucci

Striped Skunk, Mephitis mephitis

Camp Rio Vista, 4 September 2002

photos © by tony gallucci

Striped Skunk, Mephitis mephitis

Camp Rio Vista, 5 September 2002

photos © by tony gallucci

Striped Skunk, Mephitis mephitis

Camp Rio Vista, 6 September 2002

photos © by tony gallucci

Striped Skunk, Mephitis mephitis

this skunk was moving towards me so fast i couldn't back the zoom off before

having to let him know i was there, thus only "half" pictures

Camp Rio Vista, 29 September 2002

photos © by tony gallucci

Striped Skunk, Mephitis mephitis

This is a rather unusual skunk, that, at this point, i've only seen once. It was rather skittish, and these were the only photos i was able to obtain. It most closely resembles the Hooded Skunk, Mephitis macroura, but that creature is known only from the Trans-Pecos. From a distance i thought it was a Hog-nosed Skunk, but several things suggested otherwise: it has a white stripe on its nose; the white hood begins behind the ears, and the bases of the tail hairs are heavily black. It also had the gait and behavior of a Striped Skunk. At this time i'd have to say my best guess is a Striped Skunk with a solid white back, but i have reservations. Subsequent note: On 4 October 2002 i got to spend some time with this skunk and i am now certain it is a Striped Skunk, but it is completely white-backed, which i don't see often. There were four Striped Skunks and one Hog-nosed Skunk feeding under the lights on the 4th.

Camp Rio Vista, 29 September 2002

photos © by tony gallucci

Striped Skunk, Mephitis mephitis

Camp Rio Vista, 3 October 2002

photos © by tony gallucci

Striped Skunk, Mephitis mephitis

Camp Rio Vista, 3 October 2002

photos © by tony gallucci

Striped Skunk, Mephitis mephitis

This is a mostly white-backed individual. Note the long white stripe on the nose and the white bar on the upper left foreleg.

Camp Rio Vista, 4 October 2002

photos © by tony gallucci

Striped Skunk, Mephitis mephitis

This particular skunk frequently walks right up to me, sometimes aggressively. You can see that in the last picture

it got so close i couldn't back off the zoom quick enough.

Camp Rio Vista, 4 October 2002

photos © by tony gallucci

Striped Skunk, Mephitis mephitis

Camp Rio Vista, 5 October 2002

Striped Skunk, Mephitis mephitis

While watching six Striped Skunks, an Opossum, and a feral cat feeding under the lights after midnight 6-7 October 2002, i was stunned to see an almost all white Striped Skunk come ambling up. This skunk was larger than any of the others present. It was nearly white. The only black i could see was underneath from the back legs up the belly, and the face. It was a rather eerie-looking creature. I was in night-vision mode and snapped off several pictures before trying to go to flash, to be certain i had at least a few pictures. I've never seen this skunk here before so it figures that it was in high-alert mode. It caught wind of me while i was converting the camera and took off. I was able to get only one distant flash picture. I will, of course, be looking for its return. Later on 7 October 2002 Diane Hawkins asked me about a strange cream-colored animal she'd seen a couple of days earlier (October 5).

After midnight, Camp Rio Vista, 7 October 2002

Striped Skunk, Mephitis mephitis

"The Ghost" -- see the full story of this critter on the Cool Pix page. This skunk was seen for the

last time at the front gate on 11 October 2002.

Camp Rio Vista, 7 October 2002

Since August 2002 i have been taking late night walks to break away from work. Behind my place is a field with a large mercury vapor light. Actually, there are a number of such lights on our 100 acres, but this one for some reason (location probably; but brightness? too or, as Susan Sander puts it, frequency?) draws loads of insects and loads of critters. On a usual night there might be a cat, a couple of skunks, an Opossum, and an old-standby Great Horned Owl, and lots of bats circling the light. There are usually quite a few White-tailed and Axis Deer around as well. In the fall it can get rather noisy with the White-tails fighting, the Axis bulls bellowing and the owls sounding off. We've had some interesting things show up from time to time, including: a Gray Fox, a Blackbuck, and a herd of Feral Hogs.

Well, in late September, the number of skunks began increasing. I was regularly seeing four Striped Skunks and a Hog-nosed Skunk. Then, late the night of October 5th, ahead of a cold front due in on the 6th (which really didn't show until the 7th) a pretty good-sized swarm of crickets arrived at the lights. I was there when it happened (try taking photos with crickets landing on you four and five at a time, and bats grabbing them out of the air within a couple feet of you!). I backed off some and the critters started coming in. There were at least forty bats (most of them Mexican Free-tailed Bats; plus at least one each of Cave Bat and a pipistrel -- Eastern Pipistrel is our usual), the Great Horned Owl, a Barn Owl circling in the light, two Eastern Screech-Owls calling from the tree next to the light, six Striped Skunks, one Hog-nosed Skunk, two Opossums, one Raccoon, three Feral Cats and in the dim surrounding White-tailed and Axis Deer. Pictures are posted below of various parts of this menagerie. I used the night vision camera option to avoid spooking things with the flash (the skunks could care less), and so the pictures are grainy and green, but show part of the crew.

So, the next night i figured on some of the same things showing up and went out again to photograph, this time a bit earlier to get closer. I was standing amid the owl and a couple of skunks and an opossum when up wandered something different. It stayed out around the edge of the lighted area, but i could see it was mostly white with a black face. It had some of the quality of a badger, but was very long and bushy tailed. I do have a couple of Striped Skunks with completely or nearly white backs so it was not a stretch to think of a nearly all-white skunk. I snapped off about a half-dozen night vision photos to be sure i had something, then switched to flash. As i was doing that the thing caught wind of me (from about 50 feet) and took off. I got only a single flash picture of a distant skunk butt (these pictures can all be seen on the skunk page). The next day Diane Hawkins (one of my great bosses) asked me about a strange cream-colored critter she had seen near the gate (where there's another big light) on the night of the 5th (the night i was down photographing the big swarm). After a brief conversation of course we both knew we'd seen the same critter.

The night of the 7th i stepped out of the office and scoped down under the big light and thought i saw this creature again. So i grabbed the camera and walked down there. There were several things out, but what i thought was this critter turned out to be one of the white-backed Striped Skunks instead. Remembering that Diane had said she'd seen it by the gate i headed that way (about 1/2 mile away across a golf course). There was a herd of Axis Deer on the golf course under some pecan trees (a usual area for them). Normally, one of them bolts and everyone else follows. They are spookier at night than White-tails, the opposite during the day. For some reason though they stood their ground, not moving until i was about 75 feet away, and then slowly, dare i say reluctantly. One big doe remained until i was some 50 feet away and then she too trotted off. When she did i noticed a white spot under the tree -- the white skunk! So i started sneaking up on it. It seemed to be busy patrolling for insects. When i finally got close enough to take a picture, and as i started focusing, it bowed up and threw its tail high. Out of the corner of my eye i saw a dark shape approaching it. I glanced and thought it was probably a porcupine, and then concentrated again on getting a photo -- i might only get one. That picture is the first one below. Had i any snap at the time i'd have backed off the zoom to get a picture of both critters. The flash spooked the skunk and it took off, though not very fast (Striped Skunks have this delicious habit of taking off like they're headed to cover, but only getting about 20 feet before some movement, sound, or smell tells them FOOD! and they stop for lunch). As i waited (hoping) for this skunk to do that i glanced at the other critter and saw it to be a newbord Axis fawn, still wet (see pictures on the Ungulates page). No wonder no one wanted to leave. Well the skunk paused and i scooted ahead to get some more pics, which sequence was repeated several times, and i got the other pictures above before leaving it in peace. All this time the fawn was following the skunk. When the skunk would stop the fawn would show up seconds later. When i let the skunk wander off, the fawn started following me! Not wanting to get entangled with a young fawn i found a way to lead it astray and made my way back to the office.

I have named the skunk The Ghost.

Some interesting notes: Besides having a black face (with a bold stripe down it), this skunk is also black below, and inside the legs. Most interesting to me is the black bar across its shoulders. One nearly white-backed Striped Skunk among the others coming around has a white bar across the black on its shoulder. This can be seen in pictures of it on the Predators page. As of late night on October 8th, there are now nine Striped Skunks under the lights, along with the usual cast and crew. October 12th was the last time The Ghost was seen at Rio Vista (tony gallucci, Michael Frazier). A cold front that night chased off the crowd of skunks and they've only been seen under the lights once or twice since and then no more that one at a time (30 October 2002; tg).