Why Skunks Stink?

Once upon a time, at least a hundred years back, there lived a skunk. This skunk was called Lola. Lola lived in the forest with all the other small and harmless animals. Life would have been perfect if it weren't for Frank. Frank was a fox. He lived in his den which was located at the foot of a mountain not very far away from Lola’s home. Every night Frank came out of his den and hunted down one of Lola’s many friends. Frank would eat anything from skunks to rabbits, from rabbits to birds. Over the years the creature population had gone down from one hundred to fifty. Frank was very greedy and would eat more than one animal each night if possible. Lola considered herself very lucky to be alive.

During the time Frank was out hunting Lola sat in her home trembling as did her bush mates, the rabbit and squirrel she shared her home with. They sat there till morning and didn't ever get a second of sleep for they were afraid that Frank would find them. They were so tired that they napped nearly all day except for meals. Lola always dreamed in her sleep and her dreams were usually about her somehow stopping Frank eating all her friends. She knew this would never happen so she didn't try.

One day Lola was out collecting berries. She was extremely tired, for today she hadn't been able to get to sleep, and she had no idea why. Suddenly her eyelids began to feel droopy until her eyes were closed completely. She wobbled on one foot before falling backwards into a deep sleep. She drifted off into a dream. Heroically she was fighting Frank. She was standing up to him, telling him to either leave the forest or stop eating her friends. Then it stopped. She was so tired she couldn't even dream anymore.

Paws padded along the leafy forest floor. Lola’s nose twitched and her eyes fluttered open. She peered up through the trees at the moon. She turned to run home but it was too late. There ,towering over her, stood Frank. Snarling and baring his teeth he slowly walked forward until his front paws were nearly touching Lola’s. Lola laughed nervously hoping Frank would let her go but he just growled. A low growl from somewhere inside Lola answered back to Frank and he looked very surprised. Lola realized it was her stomach and not wanting to die hungry she took a bite of a berry.

Lola turned around to vomit. Whatever she’d eaten it definitely wasn't a berry. Lola jumped. She’d expected to vomit but instead it came out her tail end in the form of a very stinky gas. This conveniently went straight up Frank’s nostrils causing him to vomit and then run off home. Lola just stood there shocked. What had just happened? How did she do that? She watched a green insect crawl up a tree and suddenly an idea popped into her head. Instead of a berry she had eaten a stink bug and she’d defeated Frank, and gained some self defense.

Since then it’s always been that, year after year, generation after generation skunks have always had there stink.