SKUNK

Striped Skunk

In my opinion, today's spotlight shines on the animal that drew the 2 of spades and lost the bet.  Poor little things come equipped to protect themselves from predators, and for that reason no one wants to be around them.  Through no fault of their own, they are born with special glands under their tails that create an oily substance known as skunk musk.  When a skunk is threatened, it can spray this musk for up to ten feet and its odor can be detected for up to 1.5 miles.  Before spraying, the skunk will stomp the ground with both front feet, raise their tail and charge forward, followed by stomping backwards and sometimes dragging their front feet.

Skunk Family

Oh, trust me, I know first-hand the offensive odor that these adorable creatures spray.  When we were kids in grade school, Jimmy K. got sprayed by a skunk on his walk into town to school.  When the nuns realized what was going on, they ran up and down the halls, their black shoes clomping and their rosary beads jingling like it was Christmas.  It was total turmoil before the women in black and white ordered him to return home and not come back till he didn't stink.  Poor Jimmy started crying and turned to take the walk of shame back home.  The rest of us kids stood at attention like we were in a military inspection....we didn't dare move or say one word.  It was a WWJD moment.

The skunk teaches us humans the importance of setting boundaries and defending ourselves when necessary.  It also represents the balance between light and dark, the yin and yang.  

The word SKUNK has several meanings, like last night Jack got drunk as a skunk.  Skunk can refer to a type of marijuana, an unpleasant person, or a lopsided victory in a game of competition.  The team with 0 score got skunked. 

There's the saying, What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself.  This means that people will judge us by our actions--not our intentions.  Every time we do, or don't do, something, it either works for us or against our image and self-publicity.  We judge ourselves by our intentions.....others judge us by our actions.