Age and sex determination of striped skunks (<i>Mephitis mephitis</i>) from Ontario, Manitoba, and Quebec

Abstract

The determination of age by the number of annular layers in the tooth cementum and the determination of sex by examination of the hippocampal neurons for sex chromatin are described. A total of 750 skunks, consisting of 351 females and 399 males, were examined. Of these, 376 were less than 1 year of age. The oldest animals were between 5 and 6 years of age.