A member of the wide-ranging weasel family, the striped skunk, Mephitis mephitis, is probably one of the best known of all North American mammals. Unlike many other animals, it has adapted well to man's activities. Its present range extends from central Mexico to the Northwest Territories in Canada and encompasses all states in the continental United States.

A skunk's fearsome armament consists of two grape-sized glands, situated on either side of the rectum, embedded in the muscle. When contracted, the glands can direct two streams of fine spray up to 20 feet. The glands are connected by ducts to a pair of small nipple-like jets, which are hidden when the tail is down. When the glands are compressed, they can fire two burning bursts simultaneously or singly, depending on how precarious the situation is. The striped carnivore can fire five or six bursts of the devastating fluid without reloading.

The vile concoction, known chemically as butyl mercaptan, contains a skin-burning sulfide which can cause temporary blindness and nausea-even convulsions and loss of consciousness if a relatively weak animal is sprayed. Under favorable conditions, humans can detect the pungent scent for about a mile. The odor clings like mustard gas and it won't scrub, scrape or launder away with conventional cleaning products. However, acidic agents-such as tomato juice or vinegar-at least bring the smell into the bearable range.

The skunk's defensive mechanism has long been feared, as well as misunderstood. Normally peace loving, the skunk discharges its acrid secretion only as a last resort. If pushed, the furry sharpshooter lowers its head, stamps its front feet and sometimes emits a warning growl or hiss. Warning number two is more suggestive--the skunk raises and arches its black and white plume high above its back. Then if a compromise still can't be reached, it snaps into a U-shaped position, with head and rear directed toward the enemy, and fires one or more scented missiles.

Despite the skunk's malodorous reputation, it performs beneficial deeds such as feeding on agricultural pests (grasshoppers, potato bugs and Japanese beetles). In fact, skunks were such an efficient enemy of the hop grub in New York that legislation was passed to protect them. The animal's normal diet includes field mice, vegetation and insects. On the negative side, skunks are classified as a major carrier of the rabies virus to which all warmblooded animals, including man, are susceptible. This is one reason why skunks should not be made family pets: Rabies vaccines do not immunize skunks against carrying the disease because the vaccines were developed for canine antibodies.

Skunks generally live in the abandoned dens of coyotes, foxes or other mammals and only occasionally excavate their own dens. They also use stumps, rock piles or refuse heaps and sometimes even set up housekeeping under a house or porch. If a skunk scratches out its own den, the burrow is usually simple. But one taken over from another animal may be quite elaborate, containing from one to five well-hidden openings that lead to a system of tunnels and chambers. The female lines one of the chambers with leaves and uses it for a nest.

Skunks begin to breed in late February or March after emerging from their dens. Squealing, growling, cuffing, head-on tackling and snapping of the jaws accompany sparring jousts between competing males. Despite the spirited display of aggressiveness, there seems to be a gentleman's agreement among the combatants and they rarely resort to chemical warfare. Vigorous copulations highlight mating sessions and four to six young are usually born in early May. Newborn skunks weigh about one-half ounce. Although almost naked at birth, they display the characteristic black and white color pattern of the adult. They are fully haired in about 13 days and their eyes open in 17-21days.

The skunk was once heavily trapped, its soft fur cleverly dyed by furriers to imitate that of more valuable furbearers. Reprieve for the striped carnivore came when a law was passed requiring the labeling of fur coats as to identity of the furbearing animal. Needless to say, sales rapidly plummeted and nature's most dreaded marksman once again became the least bothered animal on earth.