SCENT-SPRAYING MAMMALS: Skunks.

This article presents information on skunks. Skunks of one kind or another are found throughout the U.S., with the striped skunk the one most commonly encountered. Skunks only spray when threatened, there are several accounts of peaceful coexistence between skunks and humans. A skunk's special formula is a yellow oil composed of thiols and thioacetate derivatives of these thiols, a substance stored in two walnut-sized glands with openings in the anus. The human nose can detect skunk spray thiols at about 10 parts per billion, and anybody who has driven country roads with open windows knows it is a unique and powerful scent. To neutralize or deodorize skunk spray, the chemicals in the secretion must be changed to a different type of molecule. Beyond the spray factor, skunks are carriers of rabies.