not a skunk

El Segundo

Residents in this southern California city are finding out that development stinks. That's because as more houses go up, more skunks come out. The city has seen 1,398 housing units built in the past six years, and with it came an increase in the black-and-white smelly creatures. "We're seeing more of them because their habitat is being destroyed," said Jeff Rudolph, El Segundo's animal control officer. The city's animal control supervisor, said that the department is dealing with more skunks lately than anything else. "We're constantly getting calls about skunksThey're under houses, they're getting hit on streets." One area skunk even gained international attention when it crawled into a rubber hose and got shipped to Canada. The stowaway skunk, nicknamed Dorothy, wound up hitching a ride in a delivery truck for a 7 day, 2,200 mile trip.