Last night I was driving home into the housing development where I am residing for the week. Suddenly from the bushes at the side of the road a very fat and colourful thing came hop-waddling out to the road as if to cross. I slammed on my brakes and stopped, hard. So did he.
He stood there looking at me for several seconds deciding what to do. It took my startled brain a moment to decipher what it was, but when I had, he was surprisingly beautiful. Larger than I would have expected, with long, flowing, very splashily coloured fur, more white than black, huge white splotches on either side and a mostly-white tail. Gorgeous.
After a moment he decided to turn around and hop-waddled back to where he had come from, disappearing into the bushes. As I drove on, suddenly the sharp and distinctive scent of skunk perfume filled the air. I don't know if it was my skunk, sparked by his unexpected encounter with my car, or one of his friends and relatives, but the entire area was treated to it last night.