skunk

a kind of animal – mammal – four-legged – omnivorous (= eating both meat and plant matter) – mostly nocturnal (= active at night) – house-cat-sized body with thick black or brown fur with white or grey stripes (one or two) running from the top of the head, along the back and to the tail (double stripes fork at the back of the neck and run along the back on either side leaving a patch of black in the middle), cone-shaped head with a pointed snout and whiskers (= stiff long hairs around the moth part), relatively short strong legs with claws on feet – front claws sharper and longer than the hind (back) feet, long bushy tail, size: 8-19 inches long plus 5-15 inch-long tail, and weight: 200 grams to 6 Kg. (some individuals can grow to 9 Kg.); feeds on (eats) insects, insect larvae, worms, earthworms, mice, rats, moles, lizards, frogs, small birds and bird eggs, and berries, nuts, roots, leaves, grasses, fungi, and the edible things from the human garbage dumps; lives for, on average, 3 years in the wild, and 10-20 years in captivity; about 11 species, found in the Americas, and Indonesia and Philippines in Asia (the species found in Indonesia and Philippines are called ‘stink badgers’)

male ~~ boar

female ~~ female (sow (?))

baby ~~ kit, kitten

group ~~ surfeit; stench

voice (call) ~~ hiss; (growl or gurgling sound)

home ~~ burrow, den

Some common skunks are: striped skunk, hooded skunk, spotted skunk, hog-nosed skunk, Andes skunk, Patagonian skunk

Special Features:

The notorious feature of the skunk is the foul (very bad) smelling liquid it squirts (sprays) on its enemies!  This yellow liquid is produced from two glands (a gland on each side of its anus, under the tail) called ‘anal scent glands’.  {The other animals, like the ‘musk deer’, ‘musk ox’, etc., have only one gland.}  The smell from the skunk is so nauseating that the other animals, including bears, leave the skunk alone!!

Though this liquid is not very harmful, it is definitely the worst smell any animal, including people, can stand, besides it can cause skin irritation and temporary blindness!

Apart from the stink, the bright white stripes on black fur of the skunk are used as warning to other animals that it is the “stinking skunk”!

Skunks are one of a very few animals that can eat honeybees; the thick fur protects them from the bees’.

In the USA and Britain, some people keep skunks as pets.

[The ‘skunk’ or ‘skunk weed’ is a kind of plant whose flowers, seeds, buds or fresh, slender shoots are dried and then chewed or smoked as ‘psychoactive drug or medicine’ which is believed to cause mental pleasure.  This drug is also known as ‘cannabis’, ‘marijuana’, ‘ganja’ or ‘hashis’.  Cultivation, use, sale or possession of these plants or plant parts is prohibited by the governments of most countries of the world!]

skunk being smoked

Figures of Speech:

1.

skunk (noun)  =  a nasty, unfaithful man

2.

to skunk (verb)  =

(a)  to defeat an opponent with a high score of points, especially by keeping the opponent from scoring any

(b)  to defeat someone completely and drive away

(c)  to cheat

(d)  to fail to pay a debt or loan

3.

to create more commotion than a skunk in a hen-house  =  to cause great confusion

4.

every man must skin his own skunk [said to imply that one solve one’s problems on one’s own]

5.

so hungry I could eat the arse out of a dead skunk  =  very, very hungry

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