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Stush, Skunk Pet
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Skunks (also called polecats in America) are mammals known for their ability to spray a liquid with a strong odor. Different species of skunk vary in appearance from black-and-white to brown or cream colored, but all have warning coloration.
Etymology
The word "polecat" (with "pole" from either the French poule "chicken" or puant "stinking"), which in Europe refers to the wild relatives of the ferret, has been attested in the New World to refer to the skunk since the 1680s. The word "squunck" is attested in New England in the 1630s, probably borrowed from Abenaki seganku or another Algonquian language, with the Proto-Algonquian form /šeka:kwa/ being a compound of the roots /šek-/ meaning 'to urinate' and /-a:kw/ meaning 'fox'. The name of the family and of the most common genus (Mephitidae, Mephitis) means "stench", while Spilogale putorius means "stinking spotted weasel".
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