Home Range Size and Resource Use by Eastern Spotted Skunks in Virginia

Throughout much of the eastern U.S., many forested ecosystems have lost large amounts of core forest areas due to land-use change, isolating wildlife in forest fragments. The eastern spotted skunk (Spilogale putorius) is considered a species of conservation concern in Virginia, where populations are restricted to spatially disjunct forest patches in the central Appalachian Mountains. We caught and radio-tagged eastern spotted skunks in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia to assess whether current habitat fragmentation restricts skunk movements and hence distribution, potentially leading to isolation among habitat patches. Denning home range size (approximately 3.7 km2) in our study was smaller than those in other studies of eastern spotted skunks and excursive movements were primarily limited to core forested areas (>2 km2). Core forested areas were used more than non-forested and forest-edge areas. We conclude core forest area fragmentation limits eastern spotted skunk movement between mountain ridges. Increased forest patch connectivity may help prevent genetic and demographic isolation, reduce the likelihood of local extinctions, and facilitate colonization of suitable unoccupied areas.