h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Poor Lady Scott.

I'm over that now.

We knew someone at the time who said that the house she grew up in continually had skunks getting under it and stinking up the place. It was a tremendous embarassment for them to go to school, because the smell permeated everything in the house, including all their clothes.

I've been lucky enough to avoid that fate so far.

Make sure your underpinning doesn't have any gaps in it!

Don't all of us have gaps in our underpinnings?

Of course Paul would pick just that time to sign out...


Underpinning around his mobile home, that is.

I'm glad such creatures are not to be found in the UK.

On this side of the pond, we quickly learn to avoid driving over the occasional black and white roadkill, because if it didn't stink before, it sure will after someone runs over it!

There's a bend in the road just above the entrance to my trailer park.
Consequently, a lot of skunks and raccoons don't see the cars coming when they start to cross the street. We get a dead skunk in road right in front of ther trailer park about once every month or two.

I feel sorry for the poor creatures, but what can we do?

Amy+'s biology teacher in middle school told a great story to all his classes about skunks and biology.

Seems that skunk mating season occurs during mid-to late winter. Those boy skunks follow their noses to the girl skunks no matter where they are. They pay no attention to the existance of dual highways, 18-wheelers or anything else. The only thing on their minds is that girl skunk, no matter what lies between, and no matter what the risk. They are literally controlled by their hormones.

Consequently, there's a *lot* of skunk roadkill that time of year.

The point he was trying to drive home to his students is not to let their hormones rule - and consequently ruin - their lives... a point which they can not help but be reminded of every time they smell a skunk, which is a rather frequent occurance in this still primarily rural area.

Doesn't necessarily mean the students remember the skunk lesson when their own hormones start taking over their lives...

Erm, I don't think hormones would drive boys to mate with girl skunks, Lady Scott.

Now, Paul... that just stank.

Perhaps *that's* why so few of them seemed to heed his warning! They just didn't get the analogy!

I've yet to see (or smell) a skunk here yet

You just don't *know* what you're missing!

Imagine, if you will, the odor of a million tires on fire, concentrated on you pet.....

No, no... Much worse than *that*!

Well, there have been occasions on the freeway when a pungent odour has gotten into the car and Mrs Gosho has said 'Skunk'! I didn't find it too bad... in fact it smelt like, well, skunk weed. So I'm told

Here in New England, those of us who live near swamps can find skunk cabbage, which looks like cabbage and smells like skunks.

Mudhooks ponders the possibility of there being skunks that look like skunks but smell like cabbages....

Which probably isn't as great as it sounds. Whenever we have an inversion in winter, we get the smell of the paper-processing plant in Thurso, Quebec wafting into town. It is living next to a cabbage soup factory....