Caldasia 45(2):332-340 | Mayo-agosto 2023 http://www.revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/cal ECOLOGÍA Citaon: Briones-Salas M, Ramos-Méndez D, Lavariega MC, Monroy-Gamboa AG. 2023. The use of camera traps to study the hooded skunk Mephis macroura (Carnivora: Mephidae) abundance. Caldasia 45(2):332– 340. doi: hps://doi.org/10.15446/caldasia.v45n2.100566 • Received: 03/Mar/2022 • Accepted: 23/Dec/2022 • Online Publishing: 02/May/2023 CALDASIA Fundada en 1940 ISSN 0366-5232 (impreso) ISSN 2357-3759 (en línea) The use of camera traps to study the hooded skunk Mephitis macroura (Carnivora: Mephidae) abundance Uso de trampas cámara para el estudio de la abundancia del zorrillo rayado sureño Mephitis macroura (Carnivora: Mephidae) Miguel Briones-Salas 1 , Dagoberto Ramos-Méndez 1 , Mario C. Lavariega 1* , Alina Gabriela Monroy-Gamboa 2 ABSTRACT Skunks are important for the ecosystems as consumers of fruits, seeds, and insects. The hooded skunk (Mephitis macroura) is a medium-sized mammal common in North America, but its abundance is poor- ly known throughout its range. In a semiarid location in southern Mexico, we deployed a camera traps array to study the populations of meso-carnivores in three seasons. With 2520 camera days of sampling effort, we obtained 41 photographs of the hooded skunk, an average of 6.2 photographs per station, meaning a capture rate of 1.63 photographs/camera-day per 100. Based on pelage color patterns and specific characteristics, we identified 25 individuals (seven to twelve skunks per season). Single cam- era-trap stations recorded up to seven different skunk individuals (an average of 3.6 individuals). The maximum number of capture-recaptures was four for three skunk individuals, and the average cap- ture-recapture record was 1.4 per skunk. Although the survey area was appropriate for mesocarnivores, no spatial recaptures were observed for hooded skunks because the distance between cameras was longer. Traditional capture-recapture models estimated hooded skunk abundance at 12.60, 21.10, and 20.20 skunks during the dry, pre-rainy, and rainy seasons, respectively. The capture rate was higher than reported in other camera trapping surveys in Mexico, and estimated abundances were the lowest but, in the range, reported for the species using other techniques. Idiosyncratic characteristics of hood- ed skunks are useful to the recognition of individuals, but we recommend testing short distances among cameras to achieve spatial recaptures and to apply contemporary spatial capture-recapture analyses. Keywords: dry forest, intraspecific tolerance, mesocarnivores, Mixteca region, population abundance. 1 Centro Interdisciplinario de Invesgación para el Desarrollo Integral Regional Unidad Oaxaca, Instuto Politécnico Nacional, Santa Cruz Xoxocotlán, Oaxaca, México, mbriones@ipn.mx (MB-S), dramos0311@hotmail.com (DR-M), mlavariegan@ipn.mx (MCL) 2 Centro de Invesgaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, S. C. La Paz, Baja California Sur, México, beu_ribetzin@hotmail.com * Corresponding author