What Causes a Skunk to Smell so Bad?

If you have ever been sprayed by a skunk, or if you have ever even smelled a skunk, you know how bad a skunk smells when it sprays, but have you ever stopped to wonder why a skunk smells so bad? This article will take a look at skunks more closely and help you understand why skunks smell the way they do.

A skunk does not just smell, and skunks are actually pretty cute and quite friendly. There are "three types of skunks," and they are known as the "striped skunk, the hog nosed skunk, and the spotted skunk" (Leokum, 1986, p. 166). Many of us remember the cartoon skunk with the one strip down the back; it is interesting to learn that there are skunks with spots. The skunk is native to the "North, Central, and South America", and the longest skunks are "two and half feet long, including the nine inch tail, and they weigh as much as 30 pounds" (Leokum, 1986, p. 166). Skunks come in more varieties than I already knew, but I have seen skunks that are about two feet long so it is easy to imagine a 30 pound skunk.

Skunks dig hole to find food. Their front feet have "long claws", and they use these claws to dig insects out of the ground for food (Leokum, 1986, p.166). Skunks are useful animals to people because they eat a lot of thing that we do not necessarily like around. Skunks eat "beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, wasps, rodents, and snakes," but the holes left by them might become an annoyance (Leokum, 1986, p.166).

When a skunk feels threatened it will spray, and it is this spray that actually smells bad. The skunk has two "powerful scent glands" that are located "under the tail," and these glands contain a liquid that can "cause temporary blindness" if it gets in the eyes, and it can have a "suffocating effect" (Leokum, 1986, p.166). The skunk can shoot this liquid out of his glands in order to protect himself. The spray can "travel over nine feet" and the skunk's gland contains enough of this stinky liquid to shoot five or six times (Leokum, 1986, p.166). A skunk's gland is a very useful defense mechanism.

A skunk may be able to squirt some stink stuff, but it will give you warning before it sprays you. The skunk will "raise its tail or stamp its feet" before he sprays in order to scare off whatever it is he feels threatened by (Leokum, 1986 p.166).

Skunks are very cute pets, and some people have their glands removed in order to keep them as pets, but wild skunks sure can smell.

Reference:
Leokum, A. (1986). The Big book of tell me why. New York, NY: Grosset and Dunlap.

What Causes Plagues of Locusts?

    

Everyone has heard of plagues of locusts in the bible, and most people associate plagues of locusts with the punishment of God, but most people don't know that plagues of locusts are common occurrences. In fact plagues of locusts are just a phase that locusts go through. This article will discuss the life of the locust and the reason plagues of locusts occur.

Plagues of locusts have occurred in many places, and they case terrible grief and suffering. A well known occurrence of locust plagues happened in "the western United States" (Leokum, 986, p.65). This terrible plague is a natural happening, and it caused a lot of damage. The plague came about in "1874," and it ended in "1876;" this plague caused "more than $200,000,000 worth of damage" (Leokum, 1986 p.65). Can you imagine that bugs that are smaller than our palms can cause such tremendous damage?

Locusts are actually a part of a large family of insects, and the name locust usually refers to the grasshopper family. Locusts are "actually any of a group of insects that belong to a family of "Acrididae," and there is a "17 year locust is not really a locust but a cicada" (Leokum, 1986, p.65). Locusts are not one type of insect; there are many different types of locusts.

Locust plagues are mysterious because when the locusts are not living in great swarms they seem to disappear. This strange occurrence has been an interest to many scientists, and it seems that the locusts live in two phases. These two phases are very different, and this is the reason locusts seem to disappear when they are not in a swarm.

The first phase of the locust is a "solitary phase," and locusts in the solitary phase are "sluggish" (Leokum, 1986, p.65). The locust appears to be lazy when living along, and the colors of the locust match the surrounding area that the locust is living in. This phase for locusts is the normal, peaceful phase.

The second phase for locusts is the group phase. During this phase the locust appears "black and yellow," and they are very "nervous and active;" the temperature of the locust during this phase is even higher (Leokum, 1986, p.65). When many locusts are in a close area they become active and restless; this overcrowding is what causes locusts to switch phases. The gregarious locusts become "irritable," and they start to group up; this is what causes the plagues of locusts we have heard of and fear (Leokum, 1986, p.65).

Plagues of locusts are a scary thing to worry about, and it is interesting that locusts are calm when they are alone. Next time you hear about God smite the people with plagues of locusts you will know the real cause.

Reference:

Leokum, A. (1986). The Big book of tell me why. New York, NY: Grosset and Dunlap.