Credit: Robert Barber/Painet Inc.
Bee-ware! Skunks are one of the primary predators of honey bees. Skunks find a tasty beehive and scratch at the front. As the guard bees come out, he eats them. They will consume every bee in the hive.
Skunks have poor vision. They can't see things more than 3 metres away very clearly. This is not good when they cross a highway. Half of all skunk deaths are caused by humans - cars, shooting and poisoning. They rarely live more than 3 years.
Skunks are famous all over the universe for the scent glands in their "derrieres."
They use this as a defense weapon. There is a gland on each side of its "derriere". I would describe the interesting aroma as a mix of rotten eggs, garlic and burnt rubber. This smell actually repels bears! The skunk can spray with high accuracy up to 7 to 15 ft (2 to 5 metres).
Being an alien, I can converse with skunks and other Earthling creatures. Skunks tell us they do not like to use their smelly weapon. They will hiss, stamp their feet and raise their tail to try to scare away a predator before resorting to their spray power. They carry enough spray to shoot 5 or 6 times and can reload in about 10 days.
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