# Skunks and Evolution **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 31, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skunks-and-evolution/548708 "2010-07-31T19:44:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skunks-and-evolution/548708/41 "2014-03-21T15:19:20Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > I don’t agree. Skunks very rarely actually spray an attacker - they very rarely have to. The fact that they are a skunk is usually good enough, in the wild, to ensure their immunity from attack. The predator sees what they are and steers clear (hence the warning pattern of their fur). A scentless skunk would benefit from the fact that every other skunk isn’t scentless. They would only be at risk from your typical brainless dog, the kind that often gets sprayed and pierced with porcupine quills. Right, it’s like the coral snake and the scarlet king snake. By the time I go through the “Red touch yellow, kill a fellow, red touch black, venom he lack” mnemonic the snake has already left. Not that I mess with snakes in the normal course of events, but still, the red, yellow, and black coloration works for non venomous snakes too. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skunks-and-evolution/548708/42 "2014-03-21T15:23:06Z")
Indeed - or any number of other mimics - even in plants (for example, there are plants that mimic Stinging Nettles, and are left alone by grazing animals as a result) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skunks-and-evolution/548708/43 "2014-03-21T15:23:28Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > ?? What is a polecat? I always thought that was just a colloquial synonym for skunk. Originally the word referred to the [European Polecat,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_polecat) the wild ancestor of the domestic ferret. The word has also been applied to various Old World members of the weasel family. In the US it has also been used for skunks, which are only distantly related to weasels (although until recently they were classified in the same family). Skunk is derived from Indian languages of the northeastern US. From Wiki: > [@](#): > > The word “squunck” is attested in New England in the 1630s, probably borrowed from Abenaki seganku[2] or another Algonquian language, with the Proto-Algonquian form \*/šeka:kwa/ being a compound of the roots \*/šek-/ meaning ‘to urinate’ and \*/-a:kw/ meaning ‘fox’.[3] So “skunk” may mean “pissing fox.” ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skunks-and-evolution/548708/44 "2014-03-21T17:39:48Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Huh. I didn’t know they’d been moved out of the ferret family. One iota of ignorance has been fought today. … but apparently, not permanently, since I didn’t realize this was a zombie thread at first and when I read the skunks had been moved out of the mustelid family, I thought, “Huh, I didn’t know that!” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skunks-and-evolution/548708/45 "2014-03-21T18:51:45Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > As to skunks and evolution, I personally saw this in action years ago when my future wife and I were living on a suburban farm. There were two farm dogs that had counter-evolved to kill and eat skunks: the skunks would spray them, but the dogs \*\*\*simply didn’t care. \*\*\* > [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > Since dogs have a sense of smell that is hundreds of times more sensitive than humans, it must really punish a dog to get sprayed. They probably regret it for a long long time. It must be extremely painful for them and since they can’t smell very well after getting sprayed, getting sprayed probably destroys much of their social abilitites for many days. > [@chiroptera](#): > > One of my dogs killed three skunks last spring and summer. ☹ I have a large fenced yard adjacent to woods. Skunks don’t run very fast and nor are they particularly speedy climbers, so if there’s one in my yard when I let the dogs out for a night-time pee, it doesn’t have much of a chance. > > The dog didn’t appear the least bit distressed; in fact he seemed quite pleased with himself. So clearly not an aversive, at least not for him. Domesticated dogs are in the process of evolving into skunk eaters. The typical dog response if put into words might be something like “Ok, so it stinks bad- C’mon, you’ve eaten worse!” ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skunks-and-evolution/548708/46 "2014-03-21T18:57:12Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > As to skunks and evolution, I personally saw this in action years ago when my future wife and I were living on a suburban farm. There were two farm dogs that had counter-evolved to kill and eat skunks: the skunks would spray them, but the dogs \*\*\*simply didn’t care. \*\*\* And now I’m wondering if honey badgers wouldn’t, either… ---
**Author:** ![CraterLayer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/87869e/32.png) [@CraterLayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CraterLayer)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skunks-and-evolution/548708/47 "2014-03-21T19:27:53Z")
This black and white border collie blends right into his surroundings: [Go Find Momo](http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/find-momo-gallery-1.1725640) ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skunks-and-evolution/548708/48 "2014-03-21T20:32:28Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Your image of how evolution works is completely wrong, so you evidently haven’t been well educated scientifically. Substances wouldn’t have been generated by “random mutation” and then fail. Instead, a useful substance already present in the skunks’ ancestors was probably gradually converted into a defensive weapon. > (Snip) The irreducible complexity argument in the wild! I haven’t seen that in years. I still remember the first one though. I laughed so hard I fell off my mastodon. **Colibri** , try not to scare him off, they can be skittish. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skunks-and-evolution/548708/49 "2014-03-21T20:49:57Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I didn’t know the Gabor sisters were skunks. “U” or “A” ? ---
**Author:** ![CraterLayer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/87869e/32.png) [@CraterLayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CraterLayer)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2014, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skunks-and-evolution/548708/50 "2014-03-22T01:05:12Z")
Gubor sisters? ---
**Author:** ![auntlohimein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/74df32/32.png) [@auntlohimein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntlohimein)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skunks-and-evolution/548708/51 "2014-03-22T01:16:40Z")
I had a pet skunk, it was given to me, as I had many exotics, it was from a bloodline that had 5 instead of 2 scent glands. It was a great pet, the stripe was almost as wide as its dorsal surface as that was what the breeder was going for, as much white as possible. He only ever sprayed once, a neighbors dog came in our house and went after him it was pretty smelly, but not for as long as I thought it would be, otherwise he had much less odor than my ferrets. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2014, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skunks-and-evolution/548708/52 "2014-03-22T01:43:58Z")
I might as well take a moment to bring up rabies, since we’re discussing _polecat de pew_. Best for dogs, and people too, to leave the little stinkers alone. I’m not sure if more skunks carry rabies, percentage-wise, than raccoons, or if skunks are responsible for more rabies cases in humans than raccoons. It’s also possible I’m talking out my a$$ and raccoons are the bigger danger. > [@CraterLayer](#): > > This black and white border collie blends right into his surroundings: [http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/find-momo-gallery-1.1725640](http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/find-momo-gallery-1.1725640) Sorry, in 10 of those 11 pix, I spotted Momo right away (the one in the Christmas store display reminded me of E.T.) However, Momo blended in with the natural settings better than the human-made ones, which seems counter-intuitive. I’m evolving into a Border Collie spotter–wait’ll I tell the missus! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skunks-and-evolution/548708.md?page=2)