Stinky Skunk

Stinky Skunk is an NPC introduced in The Sims 2: Pets. It will randomly appear on a residential lot and Sims can either pet, watch, or chase it off the lot. If a skunk is trapped in fences or walls, multiple skunks may appear on a lot, though all skunks on the lot will have the name of Stinky Skunk.

The skunk will usually leave if chased off, but may become annoyed and spray. The skunk may initially tolerate being watched by a Sim or followed by a pet, but will eventually become annoyed and spray. According to the Prima guide for Pets, a werewolf has a better-than-even chance of being able to pet a skunk without being sprayed, but other Sims only have a 5 percent chance of not being sprayed.

The skunk will threaten before spraying, so a Sim or pet that is watching or following it may decide to move on, though that will not always keep them from being sprayed. Genius pets and pets who have been sprayed before are more likely to recognize that the skunk is preparing to spray, as are Sims with high logic. When a Sim or pet is sprayed, his or her hygiene meter will drop to zero. The comfort and fun meters will also drop slightly, but it may pass unnoticed unless the player is looking at the meters.

Trivia

 * Internally, Stinky Skunk is a cat, as an inspection with SimPE concludes.
 * The body of Stinky Skunk is technically an animated object aligned to a cat skeleton. As it is internally a cat, if the skin object cannot be shown by game (for example in a family picture or game icon, which is possible if Stinky is added to any household with the use of the Tombstone of Life and Death) it will appear as a black cat instead.
 * It is not recommended to add him to a household or play with this skunk in any way other than what is intended. Doing so will corrupt the game, which can only be fixed by re-installing the game.
 * Adding Stinky to a family and using the 'controlpets' cheat makes it so it can be ordered to do normal cat interactions with Sims and other pets, such as playing or being hugged, however, other pets and Sims can only perform skunk related interactions towards it.
 * Strangely, it is possible to attempt to "register" Stinky Skunk as a breed, but the game will not allow the player to progress past the "Name your new breed" screen.
 * Sims may have a fear of getting sprayed, or that a pet they own or know will get sprayed.
 * Servos and PlantSims can be sprayed with no ill effects (unless the Sim has a fear of being sprayed).
 * However, they will sometimes emit a green cloud and wave towards the camera about needing a shower, but both effects will disappear after a while.
 * The Stinky Skunk has the Romance Aspiration which can be proven through SimPE, once he has spawned in-game. However, it will appear to have the hidden Power aspiration if it hasn't appeared in said neighborhood.
 * Skunks are also featured in The Sims Castaway Stories.
 * The Sims 2: Pets for home consoles and PSP has a fur marking for cats that adds a skunk stripes pattern, allowing cats to appear similar to skunks, though this does not change their functionality.
 * The leaked trailer for The Sims 3: Pets suggested that skunks would have returned in that expansion pack, but there are no actual skunks in the released version of The Sims 3: Pets. However, a skunk like pattern can be created in the PC version, and a skunk birman pattern can be applied to make a cat look like a skunk in the The Sims 3: Pets for home consoles.

Gallery
Skunks