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Yes, there definitely are striped skunks on Long Island, but they are exceedingly rare. Beginning in the 1930s, the use of agricultural pesticides and other chemicals on Long Island caused the striped skunk population to plummet; by the 1950s, skunks had all but disappeared. Suburbanization in subsequent years hasn't helped, either: road kills and predation by family dogs have made the recovery even slower. Another factor could be the soil composition on Long Island; it's very rich in sand, which tends to discourage burrowing mammals such as skunks and woodchucks.

Across the Sound, or on the other side of the Hudson River, striped skunks are so abundant as to border on a nuisance animal in some areas. But for the present, on Long Island, they bask in the glow (or perhaps the aroma) of a rarified creature.