Little In Stinked

My human’s grandmother used to tell a little story about a family of skunks that reminds me of the plight of one California skunk who found a nice dry hiding hole in the back of an 18-wheeler truck and ended up in Toronto, Canada, on January 1.

Little In and Little Out were skunk youngsters. One day they went out to play and when it was time for supper and Mama skunk called, Little Out was the only skunk who came. Mama Skunk waited but she didn’t want to wait too long because she didn’t want the lovely dinner to get cold.
“Go out and find Little In, Little Out,” said Mama Skunk. “Look in all of Little Out’s hiding holes and then bring Little Out in for supper.”
“Yes, Mama,” Little Out said making sure to shut the door carefully without banging it on the way.
It took Little Out no time at all to find Little In and pretty soon both skunk youngsters were wiping their paws carefully on the mat before tracking in the mud from outside.
“Little Out,” said Mama Skunk, “you are amazing. How did you find Little In so quickly?”
“It was easy, Mama,” said Little Out. “Little In stinked.”

What made getting home quickly for Little In is probably the reason that the Toronto Wildlife Center is having trouble finding some human to give the California skunk a ride back home.

So, you may wonder, why can’t the California skunk just find a new home in Canada? Humans are picky about borders between countries, you know. According to Wojtek Dabrowski of Toronto Reuters, it is against the law to release a foreign skunk into the wild in Canada. It might precipitate a “skunk fight.”