Do bears have tomato juice or do they just accept the awful smell?
I know the answer to that, and it makes me feel very bad for them…
If you’ve ever been skunked or had your dog skunked, you know how awful it is. It stinks to high heaven and if you get it around your face, it can also burn like pepper spray. And a bear’s nose works way better than a person, so my only guess would be that they hate it eve more than we do.
That being said, skunks are a disproportionally hated animal. It’s definitely hard to find joy in animal that sprays any target with a raunchy substance that doesn’t want to go away.
That being said, a skunk isn’t exactly the most ferocious animal in the woods, and up against a bear, they have no chance. Like an hors d’oeuvre on a plate.
But, skunks aren’t without weapons of their own to equal the playing field… and it’s basically a can of homemade bear spray. Funny how nature works like that…
In this video, a young Black bear, too curious for its own good, makes its way towards a skunk.
The skunk even is generous and gives the bear a warning. He charges at the bear with his tail in the air, but the young and naïve bear thinks it will still be any easy meal.
The skunk turns his backside to the bear, who thinks he has an invitation to get even closer, and boom, the skunk unloads two large sprays that are visible on the video.
Bullseye…
The skunk heads one way and the bear heads the other.
This is the craziest defense mechanism of just about anything that roams our woods, but it’s definitely effective. An animal so small and slow-moving needs something horrific to be able to survive. This bear found out that sometimes an easy meal is indeed too good to be true.
Remember folks, stay the frig away from skunks.
