Abstract Previous studies have shown that skunks present negative interactions with foxes. However, recently published observations have demonstrated that southern spotted skunk (Spilogale angustifrons) individuals follow gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) in the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve (TCBR) in Mexico. In this paper, we reported the same interaction in other locations in the TCBR and evaluated whether this interaction is casual or statistically positive. In this analysis, we included data pertaining to three skunk species (S. angustifrons, Conepatus leuconotus, and Mephitis macroura) and U. cinereoargenteus. We sampled 172 sites using camera traps from 2011 to 2018 for a total effort of 49,764 trap-days. The four studied species were nocturnal; the overlap coefficient between foxes and skunks varied from 0.70 to 0.83. Of the 32 consecutive records between S. angustifrons and U. cinereoargenteus, 11 showed that individuals of this skunk species closely followed U. cinereoargenteus and that these encounters were not random (time interval <1 min). We did not find evidence of a behavioral association of U. cinereoargenteus with C. leuconotus and M. macroura.

中文翻译：

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热带干旱地区的臭鼬和灰狐：随意的还是积极的互动？

摘要 先前的研究表明，臭鼬与狐狸之间存在着负面的互动。然而，最近发表的观察表明，南部斑点臭鼬 (Spilogale angusifrons) 个体在墨西哥的 Tehuacán-Cuicatlán 生物圈保护区 (TCBR) 跟随灰狐 (Urocyon cinereoargenteus)。在本文中，我们在 TCBR 的其他位置报告了相同的交互，并评估了这种交互是偶然的还是统计上的积极。在此分析中，我们纳入了与三种臭鼬物种（S. angusifrons、Conepatus leuconotus 和 Mephitis macroura）和 U. cinereoargenteus 相关的数据。从 2011 年到 2018 年，我们使用相机陷阱对 172 个站点进行了采样，总共花费了 49,764 个陷阱日。四个研究的物种是夜间活动的。狐狸和臭鼬之间的重叠系数从 0.70 到 0.83 不等。在 S. angusifrons 和 U. cinereoargenteus 之间的 32 条连续记录中，有 11 条表明这种臭鼬物种的个体密切跟随 U. cinereoargenteus 并且这些相遇不是随机的（时间间隔 <1 分钟）。我们没有发现 U. cinereoargenteus 与 C. leuconotus 和 M. macroura 存在行为关联的证据。