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The stench comes from the secretion of two glands that the animal has on each side of the anal opening. The liquid released is an alcohol called butyl mercaptan and these glands, called perianal, only come into action when the skunk is irritated or feels threatened. It is an excellent defensive weapon, which manages to keep most predators at bay. “When in heat, the female also exudes the same odor. Other than that, they normally don’t have that unbearable smell,” says biologist Fátima Viveiros Valente, from the Zoological Park Foundation of São Paulo. Most of the 11 species of skunk warn the enemy that he had better get the hell out of the way by stomping or rearing up on his hind legs, before turning back and releasing a squirt of the fetid yellowish secretion that reaches almost 4 meters. But the most amazing thing is that this substance is used by the perfume industry!