There is nothing quite like stepping outside in the fall, taking a deep breath of fresh air ... and catching a snoutful of skunk scent.
No doubt, the pungent aroma can be found in practically any location anywhere. After all, skunks are mobile, you know.
However, our attention has been most forcibly drawn to the presence of skunk scent outside public places and in public parking lots in and around Charleston.
The city reeks of the musty, funky odor.
We realize that it is hunting season, and hunters have been known to utilize store-bought skunk scent to camouflage their own human presence in wooded areas as they await the arrival of potential prey.
We do hope no one is using skunk scent to hunt in Charleston. That said, the sound of apparent gunfire does seem to float on the air, particularly at night, within the confines, or in very close proximity to the boundaries, of the municipality.
But, we digress.
It does not seem to matter where in Charleston one goes these days; the less than floral fragrance of skunk scent often permeates the air.
Strange thing is, despite the preponderance of malodorous evidence, we have not spotted a single skunk in the city. We know what skunks look like, as we have seen plenty of Looney Tunes moving pictures featuring Pepe Le Pew.
Many undomesticated animals have been observed in Charleston over the years, including a goat that once walked up to the drive-thru window of a local bank. Someone remarked that the kid just wanted a sucker.
Yet again, we digress.
The obvious question then becomes, what other than a living, breathing black-and-white skunk, or massive amounts of spilled bottled skunk scent, could produce such potent, odoriferous and blatantly offensive shades of the great outdoors?
Someone mentioned marijuana, aka "skunk weed," for its similarly off-putting odor. But surely that cannot be. “Pot” remains illegal.
There are medicinal uses for the marijuana plant that are now permissible under Mississippi law, but it seems unlikely that enough people have been able to obtain the required prescription for medical marijuana to cause such widespread air pollution in this fair — or is it foul? — city. There is no registered dispensary here.
So, if the cause of the problem is, indeed, illegal marijuana use, who is policing that?
To our knowledge, Charleston has neither an animal control officer nor an air quality officer, so it falls on someone else to sniff out the skunk scent that is vexing so many noses in our neck of the woods.
