Mephitology (SKUNKS) Part 2 with Jerry Dragoo

0:00 Oh hey, it's still your brother's best friend's girlfriend, who is a chat bot, Ali Ward. And it's part two of Methodology. It's all about skunks with a guest. If you listen to part one, you know I have hunted them down for years. I begged them And they said yes. Despite a lot of humble shyness. So in part one, you learned a lot of skunk basics. You heard some yarn spinning, some good stories, and now we're gonna get to some more salacious gossip about skunks with this Albuquerque based career skunk scientist and researcher who founded the Institute for the Betterment of Skunks. And skunk reputations. Also stick around for the post show secret.

0:41 This week in which I reveal his reaction to part one of this series. But before we get into it, thank you to all the folks over at patreon.com slash ologyes for supporting the show for a dollar or more a month and for submitting your questions to the oldists ahead of time. Thanks to everyone out there finding each other in their merch from Oli's Merch.com. And thank you to sponsors, Abology, who make it possible for us to donate to a charity of choice each week. And as always, thanks to the listeners who just leave reviews for the show, which help us so much. And yes, I do read all of them, and I prove it with this still sticky one. It's fresh from C Tay, who wrote, I have a skunk that likes to visit my yard. He's adorable. I want to know more about him. Searched Ology's for a skunk episode, no luck. The next week. Skunks Part One. Can Ali read my mind?

1:28 C Tay, I can. Which is how I know you're excited for this part, too. Also, podcast lover five thirty one, we do have a whole episode about ants. It's called Myrm Ecology, M Y R M ecology, with Dr. Terry McGlynn, and we will link it in the show notes. It's another favorite of mine. What happens when you're bitten by a bullet ant? Terry will tell you firsthand, specifically first thumb. So yes, thank you everyone for leaving reviews. Okay, let's get back to Skunk's part two, in which We're gonna cover pet skunks, advice for if a skunk approaches you, if they can smell themselves, pepula pulore, courting rituals.

2:05 Sort of why some of us enjoy the smell. The very bizarre circumstances by which this guest first rose to international skunk fame, and the cliffhanger question we left off with in part one, which was What happens when you've been sprayed nine times in the face by a skunk with charming, dryly hilarious, and deeply knowledgeable. Methodologist Dr. Jerry Drego. What happens

2:49 When you've been Sprayed. Nine times. In the face by a skunk. Was there a first time it happened where you said, Well, that'll be the last time?

2:59 Or where you like That's fine. So the first time I was starting off I was an undergraduate still here at UN. Jerry's advisor had him head to the southern part of New Mexico to try to trap one

3:12 Or all four species of skunk there. And so I went out one weekend I Took my tra had twelve traps and set. All head sardines. And I ran out of sardines on the eleventh one.

3:22 So I had banana peel that I just threw at the last one. Some time elapsed and And I started checking my Carnivore traps. And I was thinking, Okay, I've got twelve skunks, what am I gonna do?

3:33 Well of course the first one was empty. Oh. The next ten skunk traps. were empty. And finally I got to the twelfth draft, the one that had the banana peel. Yeah. And I caught a skunk, striped skunk. And it's like

3:45 Now what do I do? I was not given instructions on what to do now. Okay, so I know That if I could stay calm, I should be able to do anything and I managed I just it took me like maybe forty five minutes and I finally got in covered up. Lift it the trap up, put it on the tailgate of my bumper. I was driving a VW bug at the time. Oh, put it on the

4:05 Tell get him a bumper and I bunch you quartered it in. Just drove back to my campsite, set him out there and took the cover off'cause it w didn't want him to And then I was writing my field notes. Mm-hmm. And then I just stood up suddenly.

4:16 And No. It's like just liquid across my chest on my notebook and It's like I looked up and I thought it was raining.

4:24 Looked over at the skunk in the trap. Both ends pointed at me. No this ain't so bad. And so like Did you do my work?

4:34 Three days later they wouldn't let me in the museum. Oh no. Okay, so we covered this last week and again in Dr. Ted Stankovich's episode on animal defenses, but I'm gonna tell you again. In case you missed it, in case you need to grab a piece of paper, if you want to jot this down in your notes app. Maybe you want to pull over on the highway, you write it in Sharpie on that balled up fast food napkin in your cup holder. Jot it down. So tomato juice.

4:59 Flim Plam does not work. And no Water. at the start. Do not just hose down yourself or a pet. What you need to do first is oxidize the sulfurous thiols. You need to get yourself a mixture of hydrogen peroxide Baking soda. And liquid soap.

5:16 Okay, here's the recipe. You ready for this? Thirty two ounces. One third of a cup of baking soda and a tablespoon of like liquid dish soap or pet shampoo. No water.

5:30 All right, you just mix those three things together, you rub it into the fur of a pet or yourself. Let us sit a minute. And then you rinse it out. And do it more than once if needed. And if you or the pet gets wet again and you smell it, that means you miss some spots. So do it again. You gotta make a new batch of this every time you need it because it does not keep well. So I'm gonna tell you again, thirty two ounces hydrogen peroxide.

5:55 Court. a third of a cup baking soda and a tablespoon of dish soap, right? Picture it. If you're like numbers, don't do it for me. Picture it. Two pint glasses.

6:06 Alright, of hydrogen peroxide. A little fistful. A baking soda. And a palm full of soap. Okay.

6:13 Imagine it. Two pie glasses, your fistful dish uh face soda and different Harm full of dish though. Memorize it. One dark, stinky day in the future. This formula is gonna save your ass. You wanna make sure you don't get it in the eyes'cause hydrogen peroxide in your eyes is not good. So do not get that in your dog's eyes. You can stay away from the face as much as possible, although more than likely that's where it got sprayed. Mm-hmm. But you know

6:35 The nose a little bit. The soap should help break up the oily stuff, and the hydrogen peroxide will and baking soda will oxidize the sulfur compounds. Oh oh That'll kinda neutralize the odor. Oh. Okay, so it's not the worst thing that's ever happened to you. Some people, has Dispenser said, will skunk befriend

6:54 Cats. They're more so than dogs. Marlin J says I see skunks in my yard hanging out with foxes, raccoons, and possums, even a bobcat. None of these animals seem to be too concerned with being sprayed, just one big friendly neighborhood party. Any insights or thoughts on that? Are they in the wild like Friendly? Yeah.

7:13 Oh, they tend to be Solitary most of the time, but they're not anti social. Okay. And so again, as long as you're not fighting over resources and animals all about the same size, it's gonna be you're gonna be in a fight. It's one thing they get sprayed and you're in a fight, but it's another thing If you're a bigger animal, you can just chomp it.

7:31 Mm-hmm. And so they're not as threatened by all those other animals. And those animals also aren't as threatened by the skunk because the skunk is not going to attack a bobcat. Oh. So then they're sort of like I know what you're packing. Yep. There's yeah, they're just not as they're not as threatened by each other. Right. I had no idea. I would think that everyone would run from a skunk, but it's good to know that they're like, No, we're not going to be able to do it. You don't have to be the skunk's First behavior is gonna be to run away. Yeah.

7:53 So If yours is just a just stand there. And more than likely they will come up and they'll walk around your feet. Do little circles and as long as you don't make any sudden movements. You'll be fine. Really? Yeah.

8:03 If an animal if you are just standing there minding your own business, animal comes and bites you That might be a different issue. Okay. Okay, that would be that thing. If you get bit by a skunk, you really should have it tested for rabies. Right. All that kind of stuff. But for the most part, if it's a normal, healthy animal just in your back yard, you can probably stand there and he walk around you and do his normal thing. And as long as he's not acting weird and Threatening and all that kind of stuff didn't

8:26 Is it that sudden movement? kind of like a th a threat on your part. Like that's you saying, I'm gonna go after you, but if you just sort of like stand still and you don't run after them. Yeah, and just even just if you slowly walk away. If you don't want them walking around your feet, you can slowly walk away and Okay. That shouldn't be a problem.

8:44 I think a lot of people assume that they're like a grenade that has no pin. They could just at any moment. You know what I mean? But They probably don't want to spray you. As much as just be left alone. Yep. Yeah. Well, um

8:56 Any other advice to people who encounter a skunk? Of just, you know, not to panic. You could observe from a distance. No need to chase it out of your Yeah. As as long as he's not coming after you, there's no reason you need to worry about it. Okay.

9:12 She, he or she, whatever. So it doesn't matter if they're They're just gonna be out there doing what skunks do and they don't care if you're there or not. Unless you threaten'em. Once you threaten'em. First thing gonna do is try to run away. If they don't have a spot to run, then they'll do their threat behomping. If the that doesn't work, then they'll spray you.

9:28 Third strike. You're out. Yep. What about each other? Ailish Ullman says, I always see a pair or maybe pairs of skunks roaming around my SoCal neighborhood together. They look like they're foraging the grass together, but also they really look like they're on a cute date. Are they lovers?

9:44 Best friends, mama, daughter, is this common? Whenever my boyfriend and I see them, we whisper. We are the skunks. So I hope they love each other. Um

9:53 Ranger France wanted to know in all caps, do I have to be worried about finding packs of skunks? So they're pretty solitary. From What you said, right? Yeah, but they're not anti social. Okay. So it They're hanging out together. It could be Mom and Young. It could be sisters.

10:11 Highly unlikely that's a male and a female because the females seem to tolerate each other a lot more. Right. And males are just out Doing what males do. So probably not a cute date, but either way it is a cute hang. Um But we don't know. Well, I don't know. I d don't have preferences. They could be a cute date for all you know. They could. They could be doing just an alternate type of child rearing too. So it could be a very cute date.

10:35 Thank you for pointing that out. Okay, so skunks are like my Catholic family. They may have two babies. Or twelve babies. Now these babies make their debut in late spring. The stink badger we talked about last week, those babies can come a little earlier. And yes. Patron Kelsey Corey, it is true.

10:53 that female skunks can delay implantation until conditions are better to ensure survivability of their young. So the Western spotted skunk specifically can breed in the early spring like all the rest of the skunks, but they use this strategy called delayed implantation, where they just kind of pocket that embryo for months. in the uterus until they're like, Is now a good time? Okay, great. And then when the weather or the food sources or the stress levels are all good. something called nidation occurs. And the wordation comes from the root meaning to nest. And they're not the only ones. More than a hundred and thirty species of other mammals. That includes like some rodents, Some weasels, some seals.

11:33 And some bears can also delay implantation until the time is better and they're better prepared to raise kids, which means that yeah, some rats have more agency over their family planning than humans in the United States. Well speaking of the young and real quick, any romantic Breeding. Rituals.

11:51 Do they do anything cute while they're romancing each other? They stand on their legs. Uh. Podcast you do with the otters. Even for the otters, and according to uh Hellscape.

12:07 Of a study titled Patterns of mortality in southern sea otters, about eleven percent. of dearly departed sea otters spotted by researchers died by mating trauma. Eleven percent.

12:20 And The violence is not just male to female. Within same species boy bottles, sea otters can also hit below the And you did not like the otters. You got you Oh no, it's not.

12:34 Okay. So they have to have that aggressive biting and everything to stimulate the hormones to Release to I'm like. So that's why a lot of those animals do that kind of stuff.

12:47 It's because otherwise they just A one go out for a drink. Yeah, that's not the work. So Mustalids, so the like weasels. Yep. have to show that aggression in order to induce ovulation. Yep. It has to stimulate to get those hormones going. Wow. horrifying new fact that I didn't know I didn't need to know. And yes, during the mating season in February and March,

13:10 A male skunk or a buck can wander up to five miles in one night. Just looking for We'll call it love. And females tend to be one and done. When selecting

13:22 the daddy of their babies, but the males are called promiscuous. By scientists. Not even petty ones, because they'll do it. with anyone who won't spray him in the face. And no Female skunks do not spontaneously

13:37 ovulate on a schedule like our species. They do ovulate Just aftermating. So they are all topped off with the one guy's sperm and then an egg goes down the chute. And according to this 1965 paper I found titled Rudding Activities in a Captive Striped Skunk in Oxford Academic, during their rudding season, yeah, male skunks become more energetic. Agitated. and aggressive, kinda like your cousin's roommate who's weaning off of gas station cratom and they stomp and they bite, they bare their teeth.

14:12 They're ready to fight off competitors or just show their potential mates just how strong a catch they are. It's real chud shit. Not romantic. Like we see in the movies. Wait. Yeah.

14:26 Happy Lapu. Yeah, it's not a Peppy's got a a bad rep. Because I mean yes, Pepe does like this cat, and you think that's kind of

14:36 Strange. The cat also likes Peppy. You think so. Have you ever well watch your behavior. She wants she's doing everything she can to to get to know Peppy. But she can't stand the smell.

14:48 Oh if Peppy gets rid of the smell, the cat and the skunk get along. Watch closely next time. So that it's not an aggressive he is not being aggressive towards that cat. She is turned off by the smell, not his advances. So this is a Pepe apologist, but also

15:07 An ethologist. In terms of canine. And feline behavior. And the s the smell being the barrier. between them. This is a whole new way to look at this.

15:19 And it's the odor that's the problem, but that's about part of that reputation. And if you watch those cartoons closely. The cat is never turned off by Peppy, it's his smell. I'm an a revisionist. History. I'm gonna go I'm gonna watch this. I think you might have a point here.

15:36 I bet we can find who wrote those. And see if they have any Behind the scenes on it. I bet we can find it out. Okay. So yes, Pepe

15:45 has been canceled. A few years back, some culture critics were like, Hey Hollywood. Maybe you should stop telling on yourself here. But if you do a deep dive on the history of Pepe, if you were If you were a skunk expert and you have done this, which now I have done to verify this. There are episodes that show some reciprocity.

16:06 And Desire, so the object of Pepe's affection. uh as he calls her a Belle femme scunkfetale is really a silent and delicate cat called Penelope, or sometimes they call her for bread, and she has an unfortunate fence paint stripe down her back. It's confusing for Bebe. But in a handful of episodes dating back to the late nineteen forties. She pursues Pepe.

16:33 Because in one she has a head cold. Can't smell'em, or in this one heart wrenching. gift of the Magi turn, Pepe Has locked himself in a deodorant plant. Well Penelope.

16:46 Rubs. Lindberger cheese on herself to stink. They're each masking their attributes. to gain the other's affection. Ultimately reversing the role of pursuer. Pepe wants nothing to do with stinky cheesy Penelope. Now in another episode.

17:02 Pepe douses himself with cologne, and Penelope chases him, Only for him to realize that At last that Non consensual affection is in fact Not welcome.

17:12 But I'm not gonna lie, I watched clips and he comes on Way too strong. And quite aggressive. I would claw him in the face and I would ruin his reputation also. A cautionary tale.

17:24 for everyone. And apparently Pepe Who keeps hearing the word Pew? Come from bystanders. He at some point looks up Pew and he self-diagnoses as stinky. Kind of like a revelation you would have going down a tick tock rabbit hole on mental illness.

17:46 If they know that their spray smells lethal. And if they mind the smell, do they have a sense of smell? Yes, and they prefer they do the exact same thing. If they get sprayed in the face, they'll rub it in the dirt just like a dog will. 'Cause they don't want getting spread either. In fact. Skunks really don't smell bad.

18:03 You mean other than their body. When they release that, it's what they spray that smells bad. Yeah. The skunks and cells are fairly clean. Mm. Now a lot of times and this is when you get'em underneath the house is the They may have a toilet area?

18:18 And obviously the feces is going past the same nipples. And if there's just a little bit of hint of if it's just Like It'll pick it up. And so I I have people say Yeah, it Three o'clock every day right here. I smell that. He sprays under there. No he doesn't. I'll tell you what he's doing.

18:35 Taking a dump. It's just like they need some glade down there. Do they get any of the round worms that uh Raccoons do? Yep. Oh, they do. They're susceptible to a lot of things. Mm-hmm.

18:50 Well, um Christian wanted to know. How fast g do they Can they outrun you? Today? Yes. I move a lot slower than I used to. There's one time

19:02 We had a A mammal class. We were in the back of a pickup truck and we showed up on the area and We had just getting ready to run traps. We were also doing spotlighting. Mm. We had permits and takes a park to while they're all aware of what we were doing.

19:16 Mm-hmm. Robert. Firmer Patton's land. And he did a lot of work with Skunk in Trans Paco's Texas. And we were in East Texas on his land. S doing trapping stuff there.

19:28 And so we're all in our in the truck getting ready to just get started. And I just jumped out of the truck. I didn't have my shoes on. I just started running. And somebody yelled skunk. There was a barbed wire fence in

19:42 If I were younger I would have just hurled it. Barb wire? Barbara Turtle Defense. I don't like that. If I were Older I would have just said.

19:53 I'm not doing that. But unfortunately I was at that stupid age between when I was younger and like, you know, two days ago. I dove through it. No And of course.

20:06 It wasn't a clean dive. You would get a score of like three on the Olympics. Yeah. And so I'm going after this gunk. And I had started running from a long way back. And of course the skunk saw me, so he's running as well. And Yeah. We're both just getting tired. And

20:26 For some reason I was thinking about when I was a real teeny tiny person. Mm. Everybody was my size. I used to play football. Uh-huh. And I remember a coach saying, If there's ever a fumble, don't try to pick it up. Dive on it.

20:39 Oh for some reason that thought came into my head. Oh no. And of course I just I dove. Oh no. His teeth went right into my finger. Now I was wearing gloves. Okay. But then that tail just Flip me up across the face.

20:54 And he's just full. No. Both barrels. So I get up. Yeah.

21:01 Start carrying'em back and of course The students are all just standing there dra I come back and then this animal I was holding it by the tail and he reached up And grabbed the base of his tail and grabbed my finger again. It was biting on me. And Gwen comes running through the barbed wire finish and she's got a stick and she's

21:21 puts it in his mouth, just pulling it up and trying to get it Get let go of my finger. And the students in there goes Wow That was awesome I've never seen anything like that. I'm getting all big chest and everything Oh yeah and they go She must really love him. And then of course I could feel the barbed wire, I could feel the scog teeth, I could

21:46 I mean, do you need like a tetanus and a rabies double booster after that, or do you have to get a r as a skunk biologist, you just like straight up have a rabies shot just in case. I've been vaccinated for weeks. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And my titer is still Well, the last time I just checked it was relatively Pretty good. You still you still have some immunity at least toward it. And you have a good tetan shot, too,'cause a barbed wire fence. Sir.

22:10 Yeah, I've I've Done tetanus as well. I'm not anti Vaxxer. Okay. You better not be. Unless you're pro rabies. Like let's get as much rabies out there. Um again You have to remember this gunk was acting natural. Yes. It was acting normal. It's normal. If he was chasing after me, yes, I could have outrun him.

22:32 Yeah. But I was chasing him and he was trying to outrun me and unfortunately we were both tired and Yeah. If the skunk can't deter you with spray, he will bite and scratch. And he will do all that other kind of stuff that Animals do to save themselves. So I think in the court of public opinion you started it. For sure. I think a jury of twelve scouts would find that you started. And there was there was a lot of witnesses there to say that. You know, I was running before they even saw me. You do not have a case.

23:03 I'm not trying to defend myself. I'm just telling the story. Listen, you were there. You're literally standing on business though. You were on a field trip. So you gotta do a skunk biologist has to do what they gotta do. Yeah, exactly. Well actually on the topic of rabies though, this one clearly didn't, but just Amy Arigula, Adie Capello, Lynn and Marissa Winker wanted to know. Jess asked, how prevalent is rabies and skunk populations? Amy wanted to know. Tell us about skunk and rabies. Is it true that the vaccine doesn't work on them and actually gives them rabies? Do or are they just getting a bad rap for rabies unfairly? The rabies vaccine. Protects them from rabies. But not the law. Oh if a vaccinated skunk

23:44 bite someone, they have to be tested. Because the vaccine hasn't been Tested on skunks. And we were trying to do that when when I was working on skunks, we were trying to get money to do vaccine study and not also I had a colleague in southern Arizona where he had four different species.

24:05 And Stripes gun creepies, y they go through these cycles. And what happens to the rabies when the cycle goes down? And we're thinking there's other species around there that could potentially be currying it, but since they don't interact as much with humans. You're less likely to see it. Mm-hmm. So their populations could also be cycling.

24:21 At different times. Yeah. And so it is possible that If it is there, if it is in that area they could I picked it up. Not every skunk has rabies.

24:30 Skunks have to be exposed to it. Mice have to be exposed to it. Mice are usually eaten by the rabbit animal. So that's why you don't see a lot of rabbit mice running around. Oh. Is it less common than people might presume? Again, it goes through cycles and it depends on where you're at. Like in southern New Mexico, we've had an instance of fox rebies that it went up just several years ago. And so we were g having a lot of animals get tested.

24:53 Are they susceptible to like distemper and parvo too? Yes. They are. So according to the centers for disease control, if a skunk bites you The chances that it does have rabies could be up to twenty percent. All right. So if you see a skunk stumbling around kind of drunkenly

25:08 Its tails maybe dragging, avoid it. Call animal control. If you ever handle a skunk, any skunk, wear protective gear and gloves because it Even if a baby skunk, if any skunk nicks or scratches or bites you It will have to be killed.

25:25 to test for rabies. It can only be diagnosed by euthanizing it and dissecting its brain tissue. And there have been outbreaks of rabies from people capturing a wild one, breeding it, and then selling them as domesticated. Not a good idea. So if you are exposed, even potentially exposed to rabies, you're looking at a one hundred percent Fatality rate. For the animal. Also for you.

25:51 Your chances of surviving rabies if you get it are literally pretty much zero. You cannot escape rabies without a series of Pretty expensive post exposure shots, so Be careful. And we mentioned rehabbing, though, in part one. And licensed and trained wildlife rehabbers are usually pre-vaccinated against rabies. Now, what about skunks? Can't you just vaccinate them?

26:15 Well in the wild that Pretty rough. You cannot go around shooting a bunch of rabies vaccines into a wild ones. We talked about that in part one. But Domesticated, you could try to get an exotic vet to administer the same type of rabies shot your dog might get, but it's off label use. It's not technically legal. There are flock cameras everywhere. I don't know what they're gonna get you on.

26:37 Well this brings me to Pets. Because And I know that your stance on pets is uh Yeah, a yes and a no.

26:46 It's not that do skunks make good pets. But do people take good care of What makes a good pet is a good pet over. Yes, right. You can't even keep a pet skunk. Right. Unless you're a wildlife rehabber.

26:58 Is that true? Okay. born at a like a fur farm. The fur farms used to race gunks and they'd sell the pelts. Oh. And now they're selling pets. Yeah. Just take the yell out. And so they can also do the

27:17 Do you look at do some of the genetic mutilation to get the different color patterns and everything. And so actually some states that say you cannot own a black and white skunk, but if you have one that's a different color pattern, you can probably keep that because it probably came from a For Peter. So yeah, fur dealers, they're kinda like dog breeders. They have sold skunk pelts for hundreds of years, not as many these days, but they would sometimes spell them under these little white lies.

27:42 little white striped lies calling them American Sable, which is not true, but it sells more than skunk. And other breeders have selectively just churned out skunk's in colors. It sounds like a frozen yogurt menu. There are Lavender, apricot, champagne. Black swirl skunks, black chip, smoke, white on white, mahogany, and more. Do they try to do genetic manipulation to descent it? it all to breed out descent glands or

28:12 That would be really, really hard. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because again, remember this is something that's been around for a long, long time. Yeah. Some people asked, CC Goldstein wanted to know, are there ethical concerns in having a pet skunk? I've always wanted one, but I don't know if one would want to be my pet. And a lot of people Wanted to know that. Okay, and we will get to that in a moment, but first let's donate to a cause of Jerry's choosing. And this week we're helping out friends of Big Bear Valley, which has educated different groups, governmental agencies, and the public on local, state, and federal environmental laws. So they actively work to protect the Big Bear Valley's wildlife.

28:49 and habitats and biodiversity. You can find out more about them and you can watch their 24-7 live bald eagle nest cameras, which I have done. A lot. It's So wonderful. I dropped uh a lot of gossip. last week in the mineral break about that. Um you can find out more about him at friendsofbigbear valley dot org, which we have linked right in the show notes. So thank you to Jerry and sponsors of the show for making that donation possible. Okay, skunks as pets.

29:18 What would it take? Is it okay for the skunk? Asked Sam and Katie, Jill Landry, Emma Ruhoff, Jason Struthers, Jen A, CC Goldstein, Tina in Cincinnati, Mary Kirby, RJ Deutsch, Jessica Munsey, Joby D, Becky the Sassy, Seagras Scientist, and first time question askers, Hannah Oakwin, Mark Reid. And Claire Widener, as well as Jessica Farrell, who asked, I know a lot of people talk about removing their scent glands and keeping them as pets. Ethics of both those things just sounds sus to me. Also, Greg Wallach said when I was young, some neighbors had a pet skunk. Do they want to hang out with us? And

29:51 I also always think about this, and I think there's so many cats and dogs out there. That would love to be your pet. That are legal to own. But how do they become pets? Is if they're orphaned or yeah, if they're

30:06 They were from a a breeding facility. Like a fur farm. Yeah. Those are typically that's where they'll they will sell them from there and say, Here, here's some young ones. Yeah. We At the zoo here we're probably gonna get three young ones. That were bred at the zoo that we're coming from. Oh and so they're gonna be coming here I'm not sure what the timeline is on this, but Yeah.

30:26 Obviously they're not gonna be pets, but they're gonna be ambassador animals. Yeah. So they will be, you know, we'll show people around this is what skunks do and that kind of stuff. They will have all been decented. Oh. And a lot of people that's the first thing to do. You have to realize though if you descent an animal You have taken away its

30:43 Protection. If it gets out. It can't defend itself. Unless somebody just recognized Oh just it's gunk, I'm not gonna worry about it. Yeah. But Tayhoodie comes along.

30:54 Nothing happens, he's gonna take him down. Do they know they're decented, do you think? Or do you think that's the thing. The motions. Yeah. Right. They're looking at you with the stomp and look at you. Oh, that's a great thing that you brought up because I didn't know that they did this. Warning signs. So Elsie Loves Sings, Jennifer, Addy Capello, Ashley Oakie, Katie Kennedy, Ominic, Kamie, Dana.

31:17 Wanted to know. Stomp? And Omen Kick said, Stop, stop. So a lot of people were very excited. Dana wanted to know what's up with their aggressive tippy taps. So is that the primary warning sign? Is a little bit.

31:32 Yeah, that's that's a first sign. 'Cause again, the first thing they're gonna do is run away. They can't run away They turn around and face you and they'll do the stomps. And the spot is gone'cause that's someone actually gets up on the front feet. Yeah. Um but yeah they'll do the Just

31:45 stop like that. And then if you don't, then they they can get more aggressive. And I hognose skunks I've seen them just get up on their back feet and just come down and go boom and slam the ground. Like I am warning you, this is coming. Yep. Right. Do they do that as Babies too, or do they learn that?

32:02 Um I've got Videos of the young ones running along and then they'll Just throw their weight on the front feet. And they'll come up just like a spotted skunk, but they're totally out of control. Really? No idea what they're doing. And they'll a lot of times I'll roll over and fall back down. And my friend Simone, uh somehow her yard, I think'cause she's got orange trees and a little In a little basement.

32:23 tends to be very skunk heavy. rehab her and she said that they told her if you hold it with its Tail tucked.

32:35 Up. Over its butt. That it can stop it from spraying you. Is that true or is it gonna Does that help sort of? Like an oven mitt? Yeah, the little ones you really don't have to worry about.

32:46 Ha ha. Um Ali Velts wanted to know how older skunks when their stink glands become active. Cheyenne, Gabya, Julia loves fun facts if I'll be listening, all winners know as well. The earliest I was spread was at three days old. Three days.

33:02 But it wasn't It w it was not that big a deal. It was more like a Kind of like a fart. Yeah. Just like a just gonna be poof. Oh. And I think it's pretty much it. Start growing up.

33:15 It g becomes very liquidity are very thick. And so it's harder for them just to really Let it go. But when it comes out it's big old thick ball of When we were filming the Nature program where they had the younger animals. Yeah.

33:30 We get out there and I was holding the animal and it's braided three or four times. I said, Okay, that's enough. Gave it some cheese, walk back. And I could hear them looking at the video going Oh and I said, Okay, I gotta see this. I ran inside and they're just like oh get out of the after about the fifth or sixth one. I give them the cheese and I come back inside and we just all stand there and look at this. And yes.

33:53 Of course we're gonna post a still image from this PBS documentary. Is that skunk? on our Instagram and we'll also link it on our website at Aliboard.com slash ologyes. methodology. But I dug around the PBS website and I found a Two thousand and nine article. It was written by this episode's producer, James Donald. It was titled The Answer. How we got the skunk spray shot. And the producer describes this slow motion shot. It was filmed at a thousand frames.

34:20 her second. And he says it might be the most disgusting shot. Ever to air on PBS. So to pull it off, what they did is the camera and the camera crew stay in Jerry's garage and they filmed Jerry. who's outside through the glass pane. So there was a separation there. And James Donald writes, After a couple of sprays outside, the odor started to seep through the seams of the window. However, it was never very bad. Andrew and I felt lucky that we weren't outside with Jerry. However

34:50 Donald continues. Soon we discovered that we were not safe from the stench. Jerry was so excited. Into the garage. to look at the footage. And after one extreme spring adventure

35:07 Jerry ran into our room only to have All of the air in the room leave. Upon his entry, Andrew and I were brought to tears. I eventually had to dispose of the shirt I was wearing, he writes, even though I never got within a foot of Jerry throughout the filming, and the other camera crew member had to do the same. He said, Jerry's eyes were watering all night, even though he couldn't smell a thing. So the resulting slow motion footage It's

35:34 Okay. It reveals like a slightly convex. Anus, okay. So a little bit of a cone shaped because it's working, right? It's got two Nubby. thumb shaped tiny maroon

35:47 nozzles, also known as nipples, protruding and And then just a fountain of glimmering Bright yellow, golden Skunk. stink exploding.

35:59 Like liquid glitter. It's astounding. Susan Is preparing to post us still on our Instagram, and we just had a lengthy text exchange over whether or not. It needs to be censored. or if it will be flagged. That's without even smelling it. It's just looking at it. This camera crew endured so much.

36:18 Jerry Is like a superhero who can defy gravity. He will never know the weight. Of the smells this world has to offer. They got used to it. Yeah. So then we went back out and I got mom. And Mom

36:32 We I could not feed her cheese. Like that because she was well, she was wild. Mm-hmm. Yeah, so I got her I had her scruffed down and Got a tail up? Blew her some kisses. On the butt. And she's the one that you saw that picture of.

36:46 And I could just hear them look at that video. And I came back inside and they almost lost it. After I had been sprayed by the younger ones, I came out after a mom and They were just like You're just like just another Tuesday for a dragon. Come on. Well, what about moms? Peach MD, first time question asker, Ricky G, Eating Dog Hair, Magda, Jill Landry, Claire Gebin. Other folks who asked are Marla J, Ranger France, Addy Capello, and Potato Puffer. They want to know Peach MD asked, Are skunks good parents? How long do their babies need to be cared for before they go off on their own? Marlon Jay wanted to know if the dads stick around at all. What is their reproduction?

37:26 Like in their rearing. Uh I'm gonna stick with the stripes gunks for now. Okay. Because we know a little bit more about that. They have different numbers of Babies each time. Mm-hmm. But in all cases, dad does not stick around. Okay. He's just there for the I don't want to say the important bird, but the

37:43 Because important to him. females should be able to figure out how to do this without males. That's a whole nother that's a whole philosophical thing. Has nothing to do with skunk, really. That's that's skunk stories. So they will have them and moms will take care of them and they will

38:03 do as best they can if for whatever reason They get pulled away. Cause mom will actually go grab one, move to a new den, go back, grab another one, move to a new den and don't do that. But if one of them disappears and then comes back two or three days later, she may not recognize it. Oh, and just say, Uh, get away from me. I mean, it's possible if they still have some, they may take it in. But if the whole litter disappears Mm. The hormones kick in and say, I'm starting over again. Oh wow. And so it's like you're no longer

38:30 part of this. But as long as long as they're taking care of them, they will take care of them. Yeah. In let's see, late April, early May. When you start seeing the young born. Mm-hmm. And First thing they stay in the den with mom because they're nursing. And once they start waking up and their eyes open, their ears open and their teeth start coming in.

38:48 Mom will start taking them out a little bit and teaching them how to forage. And so you'll see a lot of them in early May, late April, I guess. You'll start seeing a lot of the younger ones when they start coming out. And that's a lot of times mom may get hit by a car or something, and that's when people's Oh, there's a bunch of baby skunks in my yard, what do I do? Yeah. What do you do? Um And that that's hard. It depends on where you are.

39:11 Because some states it's illegal to rehab skunk. If you collected them and took them somewhere they would Just have to be euthanized. Because they're so afraid of rabies and they're And more worried about that. And so Other states will say, Yeah, a licensed rehabber

39:25 could take them and they could do something with them. Mm-hmm. And here in New Mexico, I was working with our local wildlife rescue And so I was basically their skunk person. So I would go out and pick up a lot of baby skunks and we would try to raise them until late summer, early fall, when mom would naturally be kicking them out of the house. And so at that Time in their life. It's programmed that they need to start looking for a new place to live. Mm-hmm.

39:49 And so That's what we were trying to Get rid of them. Just in general though, best to Just give them a lot of space, let them do their thing.

39:59 Don't Provokem or don't dive after them. Unless you're a wildlife biologist who's wearing gloves. who has the rabies vaccine. Right.

40:09 Yeah, there's a lot of people who wouldn't even go that far. Yeah, even that, I'm like, I'm good. Have you ever heard of a net? Addie, I wanted to know any info for people who might want to volunteer and help with skunk research and conservation. This person says Maybe a biologist who's rapies vaccinated, which means I imagine this person is, but do skunks need Help right now.

40:34 Do they need our help? How are they doing? I think they're doing pretty well. At least the striped skunks. There's gonna be some areas like the spotted skunks, there's concerns in different parts of their range. That could be, you know, habitat modification. Climate change, they may be moving further north. I think hognose skunks are tending to move a little bit further north.

40:52 They were reported in Colorado in the thirties. But then kinda disappeared. And now I think they're starting to move up that way again. There was one recently seen at the Colorado, New Mexico border. In New Mexico. Still wasn't in Colorado, but

41:06 We've had an argument with one of the editors that we published a story and she was saying that just because we we have game cameras out, we're seeing a lot more stuff. And so well no that's not That's probably true. We are stealing a lot more things than we used to. Yeah. But I think they're also moving north because in some areas where they weren't seen

41:22 I had spent many, many hours driving down many years driving those roads looking for these things. And then they had one came up in an area that I had searched for many, many years. And they found it using the same technique, driving around. Ah so okay. Yeah. But I think the game cameras are picking up a lot of stuff.

41:39 What are you listening to when you're on these long drives? Are you listening to like Some Willie Nelson, are you throwing on a an audio book? Like When you're on these long drives. At night looking for skunks. I usually

41:50 Classic Western music. You are we wearing a western shirt. I was like Willie Nelson on the road. Maybe some um In the field again. Can't wait to get in the field again. Trapping mammals with all the things.

42:03 Don't tempt allogites. They might just write that hold along for you. A couple more questions from listeners, if that is okay. Oh. Tails. We had a great question about the tails. They have them.

42:16 I didn't realize that. Yeah. They're so cute. Emotional support human wanted to know why do their tails look like something you would use to dust a fan. Our Victor wanted to know why do they have such small little faces And a lot of people I couldn't even begin to list one show, Why are they so cute?

42:32 But Why such big tails, small heads, in your opinion, does that make them cute? I think it does. The small head, I don't not sure that May have been from their primitive ancestors if they were more

42:45 Going underground. Mm-hmm. And going after m burrowing rodents,'cause a lot of when that grassland was opening up, you started getting a lot of ground dwelling. So when you think about your weasels. They have the small heads and that allows them to get in there. And I think the tail may have come afterwards as more of a a threat and a warning. Yeah.'Cause it's a big, very flowery black we just Yeah.

43:05 That spot is gunk. It looks like someone wearing a Las Vegas showgirl headdress. And then the absolute stink farts coming out of that headdress, which is Horrifying. Mark Ruman did want to know and Ali Betts. If any predators are immune to skunk spray. Minnie Me wanted to know as well. Mark wanted to know what preys on Skunks.

43:26 Who dare? Pray on the skunk. How Really? They if you go to a museum collection.

43:34 And go to the owl. Cases Yeah. A lot of the you'll get a skunk smell in there. Boom. No

43:45 Oh my God. I've seen a picture that was the New Mexico Museum, Natural History, and they have a picture of a mountain lion and a skunk. Around the little watering hole. He went back a couple days and went up and found the Main so They will get taken.

44:02 Do you think some predators are like, Mm, it's worth it. Yeah. Yeah. And dogs, for example, they tend to get sprayed and for some reason they just like it. Is there a good way to Teach a dog how to stop

44:13 Paulina Jerry? Just getting sprayed in the face. How do I teach something not to be me, yes? Yeah. You think s somebody would have tried that technique on me already. They're like animal behaviors did for me.

44:29 I mean, is it just that they don't mind? It's worth it. Maybe the it's worth the chase. The animals that are going after them are hungry. Dogs usually just do it just. To roll around and stuff. Yeah. They don't necessarily want to.

44:43 Necessarily hunt the animal. Yeah. You gotta have a hobby. It's not like they're out there crafting or Well, last listener question. We have someone who lives on a continent where there is not skunks. Looking at you. Rachel Lakov and Gabya Schmidite, who pleaded wants to know for those listeners on other continents unlikely to ever run into a skunkin person, what is the smell like?

45:05 Be as vividly descriptive as you can, please. And also it smells different from afar. Then Really up close, right? Because I love the smell of skunks. I love skunks. I love the smell of it.

45:16 Driving, you smell it, it's sad because usually that means there's been a death. Or if it's Far away. But I understand it's much garlic more garlicy in your face? Rose petals. That's a lie, Jerry. It all smells like rose petals to me.

45:32 Yeah. Don't make me fact check that. Remember, I don't smell good.

45:39 What do you think came first? Your working with skunks or your Inability to smell. Well, given the first time I was sprayed. It's like this is what I'm gonna do for the rest of my life. Well at least my younger life anyway. You're just the man to do it. You're just the one to take it up.

45:56 So Jerry, fortunately for him, can't tell you what it smells like because he is a professional skunk expert. Who does not have a sense of smell. Just take a minute, just absorb. That. And just what a beautiful

46:10 Wonderful world. we live in. That's evolution. Right there, baby. That is natural selection at work. So from afar though, if you're not Jerry, it might smell like Really strong weed. And kind of

46:25 Diesel fuel. Little simmering onion. And maybe like a hint of a Bunsen burner. that's been left on. But to people who have been up close, like wet with it. I from what I understand.

46:39 It carries the aroma of rot. A tire fire. And charred garlic. Soaked in cat piss. Trapped.

46:48 In a dome of broccoli farts. Well we were talking about the The smell Oh yeah, you had described it as roses. No, but but yeah, there's the w the woman that we picked up an animal from and she was whenever she'd go to visit her grandmother, she would have that skunk smell. So whenever she smelled skunk, it was always a

47:04 A fond memory. Yeah. It was it always made you feel good. Me too. It reminds me of summer nights. When I first met Jarrett, he rode a scooter of Espa. Around LA. Even on the freeways, which is just a death. of death wish, but he would ride near my house in the summer.

47:21 And smell the skunk. You could smell everything in LA, you know, when you are on something that doesn't have doors. And so yeah, it would always remind me of that. But We got our couple questions from listeners that are like Is it true that

47:34 If you smell skunk, that means that there was probably a skunk around before, like d Didn't know that like the smell lingers. Well that that depends too on how they're spraying. If obviously if they get hit. That's gonna be real pungent right there, but if it anything that gets up into the atmosphere will blow around a little bit. And if they're being chased by a coyote and just do the cloud stuff, that can actually blow for miles. And so as long as it's still up in the air, you might pick it up somewhere. Now skunks in the winter will cozy into this state of torpor, which is kind of translated as uh laziness. So in the coldest winter weather, they might

48:09 Just kinda lay about. living off their fat stores, they're quite literally chillin'. Now on warmer days, then they may go toddle out to snack a bit. Now spring and summer, it's high skunk season. You've got Mating. In the early spring, during which male skunks shoot their shot at doing the nasty with females who will shoot their shot of anal gland spray in the faces if they are not having what he is laying down. Now we're gonna talk more about

48:37 It's kind of a so called courtship. But once the babies arrive in like May, they might be roaming about with mom In the summer, also, as we learned. A skunk in the road thinks that like little tiny cute stompy stomps and spray could protect against like vehicular skunk slaughter. But if you live in a skunk rich area, you know all too well about those striped sacrifices on the road's shoulders and the kind of cloud of those thiols that accompany them.

49:08 when it hits us in the nose. So according to the twenty sixteen Journal of the American Chemical Society paper titled Smelling Sulfur, Copper and Silver Regulate the Response of Human Odorant Receptor OR2T11 to low molecular weight thiols. Our survival as mammals relies on the super sensitivity to sulfuric thy compounds, and it helps keep us from eating. rotten food and trying to hug carnivores and skunks have evolved to say, go on, get using those volatile sulfur compounds. And we have evolved. to not want them on us. And the paper classifies some olfactory categories like floral and aromatic, et cetera. But one class of those garlicky odors are called alleceous and they include substances like acyline and hydrogen sulfide and mercaptins or thiols and skunky butts

50:07 And also cannabis. Aka Skunkweed have those Mercaptins and thiols. And yes, we have a two parter on cannabis. It dropped a few months ago. It is a very popular episode. We'll link it in the show notes. Worth a listen, but if you've ever been out on a summer night And you thought

50:24 Sad a skunk attack. Or is that a teenager? In the bushes. Blazoning up some gancha. And why do I like it either way? Well, there's an Oxford academic textbook. It has a chapter titled Odors as Cognitive Constructs, History of Odor Classification, and attempts to map odor percepts to physical and chemical parameters. And explains essentially it's really hard to study how smells hit us.

50:50 But perceived odor qualities may best be viewed as cognitive constructs with variability. Due to individual experiences. What does that mean? So it continues that the majority of odor qualities are based on learned. Associations, meaning If skunks Are out in the summer.

51:09 And it's a beautiful night. Maybe you smell a puff of it or a puff of something else. And it creates this kind of safe, pleasant memory. So you'll take a a deeper breath of it. in future encounters. So go Not like that. That's what research has concluded. And yeah. Among the up to ten million olfactory receptor cells.

51:30 We have ten million. Receptor cells. There are 400 classes of them. And this aside is not going to do it justice. Yes, we do need the old factology episode that I have mentioned five hundred plus times in the outro music. But as long as we're still talking smells, I asked Jerry. What truly stinks about his job. The hardest problem I had was getting grant money. And'cause I couldn't get people to fund it.

51:54 Could not get grant money. And that's probably the hardest part of the job. You would probably rather get sprayed in the face with a by a skunk than have to Do a grant. Well the the thing is I've done a lot of grants and I just yeah. Can't get them funded. What do you think it would take for people to understand how important

52:10 Skunk's war for the ecosystem, for human interactions. For Rabbi's research. Pest control. Like, is that part of what Drives.

52:20 your actual want for the betterment and the reputation of skunks. Yeah, it would be nice if if people were where we'cause it's not just skunks. It's Everything. Yeah. Everything would be better if I mean if we

52:31 worked on habitat that would help a lot of different species. If we considered global warming. As a real thing that would help a lot of species, ourselves included. Yeah. But I don't know. I think that's the We don't have that kind of leadership in this country right now that cares about science or facts or research. Yeah. Living things. Yes. For example.

52:55 And I know you've got some data centers that are Potentially going up around here too. We were watching in the hotel room last night, we saw a commercial about a data center. I imagine Yeah, environmentalists, ecologists.

53:08 Biologists. couldn't be having a harder time. It's And I hear that from so many people. I've I've listened to a lot of your podcasts where you talk about what's the hardest part. Well getting funding. Getting funding. Yeah.

53:19 That data center, by the way, it was funded by Open AI. It's costing Five hundred billion. Dollars. Five hundred billion dollars, and yet

53:30 Dragu Can't get a couple grand. For Skunk Grant, despite the international press and the global interest in skunks and They're ecological roles. It ain't right. And it's so surprising how

53:45 How the work is such a joy. But convincing people that it's worth it is the hardest part. And that is just so frustrating. And people are interested and they keep asking me and I get reporters are contacting me and I'm giving them this information. I give presentations around town and you know, it's like museums and I can go up to Los Alamos and talk there and and I go down to

54:05 The Gila and talk there and People are always interested. Wait, hold on one second. Didn't we say in episode one That Jerry started Dragu dot org Because of some press he got, let's talk about it. Tell me about people magazine.

54:19 We got plenty of tape. Okay. So I know what you're thinking. fifty most

54:26 Sexy people. No? Not exactly. What? So After I finished my dissertation, I submitted the article for publication.

54:37 to the journal mammology. Basically I reclassified as cuts. The original title was a skunk by any other name. But The people I was working with, my advisor said no, we need to call it must systematics of Mustella like carnivores. Exactly. Boring.

54:53 And then Next thing I know. But maybe a couple weeks later. I started getting questions. Somebody called up and said hey.

55:02 I've been talking to some people about this article you wrote. Uh huh. Okay. So getting all these backstories and different different perspectives about the classification. And an AP reporter. Martha Mendoza, I believe.

55:16 She published an A P story. He goes out and so in lots of newspapers and lots of news stories. I get a call from A fellow Mike. So he comes to D he says we want to interview for people. I said, really? Okay, so first one

55:31 All right, so he comes in we spent like I don't know, four or five hours at our kitchen table and he was asking me all these gunk questions. And it's like okay for maybe thirty minutes. And we spent the rest of that time talking about All the people that he'd interviewed and everything that he does. Oh, this is way cooler than what you're talking about. So

55:49 So then he says, Oh yeah, well we're probably it's probably gonna come out on this issue. I forget what it was, but I was watching a bad movie on TV. And Was working on some DNA sequence stuff.

56:01 And They interrupted my Bad movie with a news thing. So I hit the mute button. The movie came back on, I unmuted it, listening, listening, and then they Interrupted again and this time I recognized the newscaster. He had a like a white shirt.

56:14 No tie or anything. Yeah. Five o'clock shadow. And I said, Oh, this must be important. Princess Diana was in an accident.

56:23 Yeah. So I called up the reporter and said, What's gonna happen to my story? Because It's gonna get bumped. So

56:34 And so it's like uh yeah, I looked through there and said nothing. So I said it down So that I went back The next issue. And there's this Goodbye, Diana.

56:50 And I said, I'm not even gonna look at that one. I just turned around and walked out. I get a call from Boston radio station. Hey. You were just in People Magazine, we want to interview you.

56:59 What? And so I went back to the across the street. I picked up one forty six. No there I am. About skunks? Yes. Probably one of the most collected people magazine issues. I grabbed like twelve of'em and I think the checkout guy thought I was some kind of Diana freak or something. And it's like no, I'm on page one forty six of every one of these.

57:23 Yeah. Talk about screen. Oh. Oh.

57:28 And of course, Gwen in the picture, she's in the background. You still have a copy of it somewhere, right? Yeah. At least twelve. Yeah. Of course. Somewhere. You must. It's a September ninety seven. Goodbye Diana Shu people magazine. So grants and also

57:44 Princess Diana's untimely death. Also just a shout out to Julie at Indiana Skunk Rescue who has rehabilitated and adopted an unreleasable skunk and named her Princess Diana.

57:59 Because she is very sweet, Like her namesake. I'm still sad about Princess Diana. who I hope is resting in peace. With our American saint. Dolly Parton.

58:10 who we lost today. I've cried So much about it already. So with good There is bad. But with bad there is good.

58:18 Has there been something Though in in your life that just really lights you up. About the work. Is it being able to be out in the field, is it being able to be a voice for animals that are maligned, like

58:31 What is it about This work that kept you interested so long. Well being out in the field and working with the animals is that's the most exciting part. But then to be able to bring the stories back and share those because

58:46 Some people are interested. Yeah. They keep asking questions and And laugh when I tell jokes. Or even laugh when I tell the truth. The truth is often funnier than in your case? It's More absurd.

59:03 than I feel like any other biologist I've talked to. And I think that there's such a reverence for skunks because They are so bold while being so cute while also being so threatening. That

59:17 It reminds you that These creatures that have been like this for millions of years and have evolved to occupy this niche of behavior. They can be so much more powerful than Us standing on two legs and, you know, trying to chase after it. I feel like they're such an ambassador for how powerful nature can be.

59:36 And how much respect it deserves. And I've always loved skunks for that. Ernest Thompson Seaton. Mm-hmm. So in nineteen thirteen he wrote a book called Wild Animals at Home. And the well meaning skunk is chapter six, and this is his first paragraph.

59:49 Mm-hmm. I have a profound admiration for the skunk. Indeed, I once maintained that this animal was proper emblem of America. It is first of all peculiar to this continent. It has stars on his head and stripes on his body. It is an ideal citizen.

1:00:04 Minds its own business. Harms no one. And it's habitually inoffensive as long as it is left alone. But it will face anyone or any number when aroused. It has a wonderful natural ability to take the offensive.

1:00:18 And no man ever yet came to grips with a skunk without being sadly sorry for it afterwards. Yeah, nevertheless, in spite of all this And the fact that several other countries had prior claims on the eagle, I could not source my view sufficient popular support to change the

1:00:36 National Emblem. If we had skunks on the seal. Mm-hmm. Sit on top of a flagpole.

1:00:43 I'm I am all for that. I think you are My favorite methodologist. Have you ever Googled methodology? Yeah, I found you. How do you why do you think I'm sitting in a conference room in Albuquerque? Wearing a skunk shirt and stripe socks. I I did that the other day as I Googled methodology and I

1:01:03 Mine was the only thing that came up. And look at that, here we are. We're new buddies. All it took was six years. And persistent begging. Interesting people. Doing this.

1:01:15 People you wouldn't have met otherwise, but someone's got a skunk story or someone's got a question. Well, that's everybody has a skunk story. He will come out. Hey, I saw a dead skunk on the road and I thought of you. It's like The the dead skunk

1:01:30 Reminded you of me. Or did you see me and that reminded you of a dead skunk? I just I'm not sure. You need to dye the sides of your hair black. Before it it turned as white as it was, uh used to have a hooded skunk look. It was kind of a grayish color. It was a little white. And then I I got older and You have an opportunity here aesthetically to really pull something off.

1:01:55 Yeah. Inspires people too to just Sit outside and Watch their skunk's little. If if you see a skunk in your background, just get a launch here Open a beer, sit back, kick your feet up and watch'em.

1:02:08 Um I love them. Thank you again so much. Amazing. So ask elusive people to elucidate

1:02:19 life's mysteries because in some cases Skunk facts. Await you. In my case, that is the truth. A million thanks to my favorite methodologist ever, Dr. Jerry Dragu. Find out more about him at drago. dot org and you can follow him on Blue Sky at JW Dragoo. He just joined because I pestered him into it. You can say hello there so that we can further pressure him to post some skunk pictures and tell some stories. So that's uh again Linked in the show notes. Thank you also to Gwen Drago.

1:02:49 We're all in love with you by proxy. Too, just so you know. You can find more links in the show notes of this episode as well as other episodes that you might enjoy. Uh if you go to Alley war.com slash ologies Slash

1:03:03 Methodology, we have a ton of links up. If you ever need kid friendly, swear free episodes of Olije's, we do have classroom safe smallogies episodes. Those are in their own podcast feed. You can just search S M O L O G I E S Smalogy, wherever you get podcasts and you can subscribe there. We have Ologis Merch at OligiesMerch.com and you can also join up on Patreon at patreon.com slash ologies for a dollar a month. You'll hear what episodes are about to be recorded and you can submit questions ahead of time. For theologists. We are at Ology's on Instagram and on Blue Sky. I'm at Alley Ward. Allie just has one L on both. Erin Talbert admins the Ology's Podcast Facebook group. Aveline Malik makes our professional transcripts, which are linked on every show page. Kelly R Dwyer does the website. Scheduling producer Noelle Dillworth is our very own high speed camera. aiming our weekly nozzles is managing director Susan Hale, and the dual stripes down my furry back are editor Jake Chafey and lead editor Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio, Nick Thorburn.

1:04:07 Stomped out the theme music. And if you are with me this far, I'm gonna tell you a secret. This week. As promised, it's that I emailed Cherry to tell him the episode was up. And it was great. And he sent me a note back. Saying

1:04:21 Yeah. I thought this was part two. Sleep procrastination. The cure. Oh Jerry.

1:04:28 Oh shit. humble and funny. But he confessed I haven't heard it yet. Too afraid to hear how I sound. Gwen said I was hilarious, but I don't know if she listened to this show or if it was just a random comment. He also told me he wished that we'd gotten to meet some skunks. So if you go to the Albuquerque Zoo, you can say hello to the three new ambassador skunks if you happen to see them.

1:04:49 Say hi for me and say hi to Jerry, if you see him. If you don't see'em. You can also cruise the parking lot and give a little nod to the Subaru Baja with the license plate that says Skunk's. That's his. Oh, another secret too. If you live in the southwest states in the United States, if you're hearing this in twenty twenty six.

1:05:09 Get your roof and your windows checked. now if you can. We have a meteorology episode. We did a few years ago. We talk about El Nino and La Niña, it's with Doctor Marshall Shepherd, who's A legend, but this El Nino Storm

1:05:24 Starting in October is set to be a wet one, and by the time it hits The roofers are gonna be busy. And it's gonna be expensive. Also, if you need a job. I mean be a roofer. Be safe though, because gravity's no joke. Okay.

1:05:39 Go wave it a skunk for me. Be polite. Okay. Bye-bye. Oh wait, oh my god, I told you last week I would give you an update on what happened to Jarrett. We went to the E R, we were there for a very long time. We thought he had appendicitis All signs pointed to it. they did a C T scan and it turns out

1:05:58 My man has diverticulitis. So he didn't need an operation. That's cool, but he does have some divots in his intestines. And uh he like hasn't eaten a solid meal in almost a week now.

1:06:13 Just yellow. And broth. He doesn't love it. I'll be honest with you. And I thought that seeds and pits were like off the table because they can get like trapped in these little potholes in your intestines, but I I read some new research from twenty twenty five and apparently that's not the case. So If you have a flare up you have to like Taking embiotics and stuff. Anyway.

1:06:33 Sucks. doubled over in pain, but he asked the nurse. It was like I think younger than both of us at the ER, like why did why me? Why?

1:06:46 Why did this happen to me? And she just said You're getting older, honey. And it was so Brutal. But so iconic.

1:06:57 And I can't tell you how many times We've said to each other. You're getting older, honey. We say it a lot now. Okay. But he's on the mend. He's doing okay. And again, if you want the skunk shirt that we talked about in this episode and we put on our Instagram, go to jbstink.com. JB Stink. Dot com. He makes great shirts. There's also one that says I like bugs. Okay, he's fine. Alright, bye-bye.

1:07:43 I think it smells delicious.

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