You know the popular (?) song What Does the Fox Say? right? It muses on what the elusive fox sounds like if and when it makes a call in the wild, with some pretty off-the-wall guesses.
We may not know what a fox says, but let me tell you this – a whole lot of people also had no idea what a skunk says, and they were, as a whole, not at all ready to hear it for themselves.
A video is making the rounds on Twitter and letting many people hear the call of the skunk for themselves for the very first time. A cyclist captured the footage of a mommy skunk and her four babies walking around having a chat, and y’all. There is no way not to love it.
Skunks, of course, aren’t as adorable as they look and sound. The cat-sized mammal, native to the Americas, are capable of spraying a foul liquid – people have likened it to bad eggs mixed with burnt onion – when threatened.
They only deploy their smelly weapon when they’ve exhausted other options like stamping their feet, baring their teeth, slashing with their claws, or even standing on their hands (just wait) before spraying. The reason is that it can take up to 10 days for their smell reserves to replenish.
The spray isn’t harmful, though it should be a deterrent and it can cause problem if it gets into your eyes.
If you’re enamored with skunks now (from a distance), please enjoy this one doing a handstand.
And if you want more unsuspecting animals that make adorable noises, I give you a porcupine named Teddy Bear.
If you like that, you’re gonna lose your mind when you hear what porcupines sound like 🙂 https://t.co/WvQEwxkAce
— Mathew Tizard (@mtizard) April 7, 2020
Another animal you’ll want to admire from afar for very good reasons.
Nature is pretty fun, y’all, as long as you keep it at arm’s length.
It is a mantra that has served me well in my 41 years, and now that murder wasps are a thing, I’m going to hang onto it like grim death.
