The Shunk

While Shri Nathji was traveling in car in US on the way to New Hampshire, a skunk sprayed it with his distastefully smelly liquid. When Shri Nathji learned what had happened, he laughed heartily and said: "It greeted us with the only substance it had in its possession!" The smell served as a strong reminder of the skunk, all the way to New Hampshire. Perhaps the skunk had been protesting to its Creator against the obnoxious smell He had given it. The Creator could have found the skunk only in America. It was God’s creation rebelling against God. Perhaps the skunk had merely served to remind God that a part of His Creation stank!

Skunks (in the United States, occasionally called polecats) are mammals best known for their ability to secrete a liquid with a strong, foul odor from their anal scent glands, which they can use as a defensive weapon. Skunks have two glands, one on each side of the anus. These glands produce a mixture of sulfur-containing chemicals such as methyl and butyl thiols traditionally called mercaptans, which have a highly offensive smell that can be described as a combination of the odors of rotten eggs, garlic, and burnt rubber. The odor of the fluid is strong enough to ward off bears and other potential attackers and can be difficult to remove from clothing. Muscles located next to the scent glands allow them to spray with a high degree of accuracy, as far as10 ft. The smell aside, the spray can cause irritation and even temporary blindness and is sufficiently powerful to be detected by a human nose up to a mile downwind. Skunks most common fur color is black and white.