Mysterious Skunk Smell

We just bought a house in Minneapolis and there’s a skunk smell that wafts around outside at night, pretty much every night. I never smell it in the daytime and have been smelling it since mid January when we moved in.

It’s not intolerable, it’s not even unpleasant since it’s so faint. But what on earth is causing it? Actual skunks? The somewhat nearby rail yard? A neighborhood pothead?

It certainly could be a skunk as they’re fairly common in the Cities, generally near areas that are left fairly uncultivated (like along railroad tracks). We used to see them pretty often around Lakewood Cemetery and the Rose Gardens. You could smell it on a regular basis because it’s making its daily journey to a popular dining destination. It can’t be passing very close, though; we have them pass through our yard frequently and the smell is very strong.

One interesting non-skunk-related smell that could be mistaken for skunk is toasting cereal grains, so that could be a possibility if you live near any place that might be doing that.

Someone growing marijuana?

Or just smoking it nearby and it’s wafting in.

If that’s the case then my question to the OP is does it come it waves, say, you can smell it for a few minutes then it’s gone, then you smell it again an hour later? Any teens or college kids (or adults you think might partake) living within 50 feet or so? Can you hear people talking when you smell it? (As if it’s few people going outside to do it?)

The only reason I wouldn’t guess this is that skunk weed is pretty strong and you don’t need to smoke that much of it. It would be odd, IMO, for a neighbor to consistently smell it every single night. Here and there maybe if the wind was blowing in the right direction but not like that. It’s not like the cheapo shwag where 4 or 5 college kids could burn through an ounce in a night.

Based on that my guess is that it’s probably just some skunks in the area. If it doesn’t smell bad they might even be a 1/8 or a 1/4 of a mile away.

It does seem like a short-term scent that comes and goes a couple times a night, but that could also be that I get desensitized to it then go inside and smell it again if I go back outside. There’s no talking or anything noticeable connected to the scent.

I suppose the most logical answer is that there are indeed skunks in my neighborhood. I don’t know why that surprises me so much, since I’m so blasé about the wild turkeys that lord over the corner of 29th and Johnson.

I’ve smelled plants with a skunky smell. I don’t know what the names are, although there are some called skunk weed that don’t refer to pot. Skunk weed - Wikipedia

Hops for beer smell skunky. I made some homebrew last night and my wife said I smelled like a pothead.

Minneapolis? Do you live near a brewery?

I know this is over a year old but I wanted to update that it is in fact my 60-year-old neighbors smoking a lot of pot in their garage.

And you were going to tell us earlier, but it was so comfortable over there, and your computer was like so far away, and man, have you ever looked at your hands? I mean really looked at them?

It could be from exhaust gases from a gas furnace. These gases can sink down to ground level, especially if there is no wind, and the mercaptan added to the natural gas makes the smell. That would be why it was intermittent, depending on whether or not the furnace was on. (I called the gas company to report this same problem and that was the explanation they gave)

It should be noted that skunks are not odorous of themselves. If they are afraid or upset they will make the other animal/the neighborhood smell. You can’t tell a skunk is around by the smell if he’s happy.

True, but skunks don’t limit their behavior to just spraying when under attack. They’re also prone to letting go “just a whiff” of musk, to serve as a warning…sort of like a rattlesnake’s buzz. I’ve often been alerted to the presence of a skunk by that sudden, faint-but-noticable aroma on the air, then a moment later the critter itself steps out from a patch of brush, gives me a dirty look, then ambles on its way…

And you mean to say he won’t share it with you??? :mad: