Finding The Stinker

The camera trap location was a dud. I was in a bit of a rush when I placed it, and now three weeks later I didn't have time to move it. I reduced the sensor sensitivity, to avoid filling up the SD card with false triggers again, and left...

Bushnell NatureView HD at Paarl Mountain Nature Reserve

I didn't have high hopes when I left. Two weeks later I returned and found only two observations. The first one was of a Cape Grysbok, but the last one was a surprise. It was a Striped Polecat. These guys can be found throughout most of Southern Africa, but are usually not very common.

Striped Polecat (Stinkmuishond - Ictonyx striatus) camera trapped at Paarl Mountain

These guys have been seen on the reserve before, so its not a new species, but it always feels good to to get some "hard evidence" in the form of a camera trap photograph of elusive nocturnal mammals such as these.

Interestingly the Striped Polecat might look a lot like a skunk, but it is in fact closer related to the Honey Badger and African Striped Weasel (all being from the Mustelidae family). True skunks (being Mephitidae) are absent from the African continent.