The October Photo of the Month is an amazing image of two foraging black bears in one of our volunteer’s yards, with one standing on its hind legs while the other pokes around the grass looking for food! As seen in this photo, black bears are about 3 ft tall on all fours and can reach up to 7 ft tall when standing on their hind legs! Thank you to volunteer Deborah Donahue for providing us with this great photo!

For any more mammal sightings, submit any photos to the form here!

Reminder to anyone with a Ring camera or similar security system installed; these systems help us collect important data on the presence and absence of mammals in your area. We welcome you to join our team of registered volunteers who submit photos once a month. Having regular reports from a fixed location allows us to learn even more about mammals in your area than individual sightings.  New volunteers can register here 

Picture of Alex and Ayres during the Ambassador Info Session

In October, we hosted our first Volunteer Ambassador Info Session! We wanted to launch this opportunity to better connect with our volunteers and expand community outreach in areas we don't usually hear from. Our two Data and Outreach team members, Ayres and Alex, presented on the recent developments of our project, our new volunteer initiative and answered some questions about data submission! If you couldn’t make it and would like to be an ambassador, please fill out our Volunteer Ambassador Form!

Picture of Camilla and Elise giving a talk at the Bangs Community Center for the Amherst Historical Society

On October 11th Camilla Lash ('27) and Elise Farley ('25) went to share about the history of black bears in Massachusetts at the Bangs Community center for the Amherst Historical Society. The presentation took the form of both a structured, and an open conversation forum with a plethora of questions asked and answered!

Attendees were invited to learn how as a community people may be more engaged in participatory science. The presentation highlighted that the Massmammals group is not confined to  a lab; much of our work is outreach based either at local elementary schools, farmers markets, presentations and social media. Many attendees shared stories of bears they have seen in the area and questions they had regarding keeping the bears wild, and also what it means to succeed in coexisting. 

Picture from volunteer Susan Crim!

A misunderstood, highly adaptable, and evolutionarily profound mammal, the skunk! In Massachusetts, the striped skunk, Mephitis mephitis or “bad odor”, is the most common mammal (Rounds 2013). The range of the striped skunk extends from northern Mexico to southern Canada and from coast to coast in North America. The striped skunk resides in a variety of habitats ranging from farmlands to woods to beaches. Although the striped skunk is mostly an insectivore, or a diet consisting primarily of insects- such as beetles, caterpillars, and bees, skunks can alter their main source of food to other animals or plants based on their habitats. Common human and skunk interactions occur when skunks will feed on garbage, pet food, and bird feed, though skunks are usually docile and tend to avoid human contact. 

Baby skunks are called kits! On average, striped skunk litters consist of five to six kits, weighing about 25g to 40g, and are born blind. Kits will remain with their moms until about 2 months of age, then becoming independent and burrowing or inhabiting its own den.

Skunks grow a stored layer of fat underneath the skin in the fall in preparation for the winter. Skunks spend much of their time in dens during the winter. They have den mates (oftentimes a male will be in one den with multiple females) for social incubation (Rounds 2013)! Rather than hibernate, skunks undergo a process called torgor, a period of inactivity and energy conservation less than 24 hours, slowing the skunks’ metabolism and decreasing their body temperature (Ruf et al. 2014).

A significant attribute to the striped skunk is its method of defense towards predation: the ability to spray a noxious scent. Common predators of the striped skunk include coyotes, foxes, bobcats, and predatory birds, like the bald eagle or great horned owl. These skunks have paired anal scent glands that release a neurologically depressing chemical defense musk, often compared to a smell of garlic, rotten eggs, and sewage! This musk is used to deter potential predators and even temporarily blind them if needed, though skunks are typically avoided by predators due to this defense. 

The Member Spotlight for October is Ellen Wolstenholme

"I am a sophomore and a prospective biochem major."

"A fun fact about me is that I love to crochet."

"I joined MassMammals originally as part of Amherst’s summer undergraduate research fellowship, where I participated in research looking at how recreation affects wildlife in the Holyoke Range. Now I am on the data side of the project and help process the bear images that are submitted!"