Seeing a skunk
Seeing a skunk puts you near an animal with a famous weapon that it is slow to use, warning with stamps and hisses first. Its long fuse is worth a thought: how much warning do you give before you hit hard?
What it may mean
A skunk carries one of the most effective defenses in North America and is remarkably reluctant to use it. Before spraying, it stamps its front feet, hisses, raises its tail, sometimes charges a few steps and backs off; the little spotted skunk even does a handstand. Only when every warning fails does it spray, because its supply is limited and takes days to rebuild. Strength, in the skunk's case, comes with a long fuse. That is worth thinking about after a close encounter on a night walk. People with real power, whether a sharp tongue, authority or a strong argument, often do best when they warn clearly and early, and keep the full force for the rare moment that needs it.
Depending on how you saw it
A skunk strolling across the road
A skunk crossing a sidewalk or a road at night ambles, unhurried, trusting its stripes to keep others away. Giving it room is all it asks. What warning signs do you give before you lose your patience, and do others see them?
A skunk stamping its feet at you
Front-foot stamping and a raised tail show the skunk is asking you to leave, and backing away slowly almost always ends the standoff. It is a request for space. When someone stamps their feet at you, do you read it as a threat or as a request?
A strong skunk smell in late winter
Skunk smell on roads peaks in late winter and early spring, when males roam far in search of mates and meet cars and dogs along the way. The season makes them wander. Which time of year makes you roam farther than usual?
Small holes dug in the lawn
Skunks dig neat, shallow holes in lawns at night while hunting grubs, and the damage is gone in a week or two. They are working for the yard as much as against it. Which guest in your yard, or your life, is more helpful than its reputation?
Why it happens in nature
Skunks are nocturnal for the most part and spray only as a last resort, after stamping, hissing and lifting the tail as warnings; the oily spray can reach about 10 feet and takes days to replenish. They dig small holes in lawns for grubs, and roaming males in the late-winter mating season make the smell more common on roads.
What folk beliefs say
Mexico
In Mexico, a 1903 collection says, it was unlucky for a skunk to enter a house, and a fatal omen only if the animal was a female that gave birth to her young in some hidden corner of the home.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 2 (1903), vol. 2, p. 692. View the page
Mexico
Also in Mexico, it was believed that children who showed signs of disgust when they smelled a skunk would have their hair turn white.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 2 (1903), vol. 2, p. 692. View the page
To reflect on
When you could hit hard, how much warning do you give first?