1. souse, n.5: 3. A drunkard. slang (chiefly U.S.). (OED)
  2. white souse, n.1: A blog for literature, politics, science, and the occasional cocktail.

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Cats and Skunks



Mentioning Pepe Le Pew's hijinx got me wondering how closely related cats and skunks are. And it turns out: pretty close (links to a powerpoint presentation from a textbook). Skunks (Mephitis mephitis) are part of the family of mustelids, which are the nearest family to felidae, including the domestic housecat (Felis catus). They're also closer in relation to puppys (canids) than cats are, which perhaps explains why I've heard they make great pets (if stink gland is removed). Not an experiment I'll be trying any time soon. And by way of correction to what's below, it seems that it was the cat who was accidentally painted to look like Le Pew's smelly paramour, not the other way around.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

actually if you look closer to the history of the Pepi La Pu vs Cat paint job you will find both have deployed camo paint, cat used white to be skunk and skunk used black to be cat... ah trivia and childhood cartoon memories. LOL!