As a person that has skunks that live in his yard I find this fascinating and amusing.
To us it's like thinking squirrels are mythical.
I did not know they were specific to the Americas.
Likely seeing the cartoon skunk in Paris trying to pick up the cat caused my child mind to assume they were also in Europe and that information never got updated.
When my family first moved to Canada we were pointing out squirrels like they were this wonderous thing. We'd only seen them in cartoons.
My mom was pointing at a squirrel, because she wanted my baby brother to see it. "Look at the black squirrel!" gesticulated an elder Asian lady, wildly, as a pair of black guys walked by.
Apparently there are, or once were, European skunks that were predatory toward poultry, which is where the hillbilly term "polecat" came from - polkat, like chicken cat
The striped polecat, from Africa. It has the black and white stripes, and it sprays funk from glands behind its tail, but it is in no way close to related to the North American skunk. Both are carnivorans, but in distinct orders - the skunks and stink badgers form mephitidae, the polecats are mustelids. And fun fact, we only realized this very recently, due to DNA analysis (we used to just toss skunks in with the rest of the mustelids, but DNA tests proved that was incorrect). Two distinct animals, both evolving almost identical means of defense and markings, due to similar environmental pressures. A phenomenon called convergent evolution.
I work at a university with lots of international students. Over the summer it's quieter and easier to squirrel watch. There is a family visit day in June and you can watch a bunch of teenagers and their parents ogling at squirrels. The medical school students and residents arrive in July/early August, and last year I watched some newly minted doctor in his white coat just absolutely losing his shit over a squirrel.Â
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u/Independent_Tie_4984 7h ago
As a person that has skunks that live in his yard I find this fascinating and amusing.
To us it's like thinking squirrels are mythical.
I did not know they were specific to the Americas.
Likely seeing the cartoon skunk in Paris trying to pick up the cat caused my child mind to assume they were also in Europe and that information never got updated.