My impression is that skunks evict owner of any hole they fancy, for which they are so
well equipped. Skunks only spray as a last resort. I had an amusing experience with one.
I had made a house visit just down the street away one night. On my return home, I saw
what I thought in the dim light was a balled up page of newspaper blowing across the
lawn. As I got closer, I saw it was a skunk. It was standing on its front paws, with its tail
hanging down its back, out of the way of the perfume projector. It was peeking around its
front legs, and dancing on its forepaws, calibrating its aim, should I get within firing range.
Fortunately the wind was from me to the skunk, so the skunk knew it could not hit me with
spray unless I got very close. It was so close to the door that I had to wait until it dropped
its tail back, went down on all fours and departed, in only very moderate haste.
The skunk perf;ume is a mercaptan, a sulfur compound series, or which asparagus contains
the least noxious precursor, readily noted when urinating a few hours after eating asparagus.
Which reminds me of a lecturer in biochemistry telling us Roman ladies used to drink small
amounts of turpentine, because it gave their urine the odor of lavender. I asked him "For whose
benefit?" For which he had no answer.