fsks@unc.UUCP (01/24/86)
Recently I heard about for an anti-rape device consisting of a breakable vial of skunk oil. The idea is this: When rape is imminant, break the vial. Supposedly this has the effect of six skunks releasing their scent simultaneously. The attacker would be instantly repelled. The odor would stay with the attacker for several days, making it easier for police identification. It also would affect the victim, but this is better than being raped. This sounds like a good idea because: A) The defense is passive. A victim who didn't have the guts to gouge out an attacker's eyes might yet be able to crush a little bottle, knowing that she causes no permanent injury to either party. B) The attacker cannot use it against the victim. Does anybody have any hard information about the actual effectiveness? I'm not about to break one open to see for myself if it works, but I'd hate for a loved one to need it, only to find out it's really filled with Kool-Aid. Does anyone know of a reliable seller? Frank Silbermann
kolling@decwrl.DEC.COM (Karen Kolling) (01/24/86)
> Recently I heard about for an anti-rape device consisting > of a breakable vial of skunk oil. The idea is this:.... > The odor would stay with the attacker for several days, making it > easier for police identification.... I am under the impression that tomato juice neutralizes skunk odor, so it's not clear how useful this would be for identification purposes. A few years ago in Oakland there was a serial rapist ("Stinky"?) who according to the news media was reported to have a really noticable foul smell, and I don't recall that he was ever identified. A false sense of security is dangerous.
jeff@rtech.UUCP (Jeff Lichtman) (01/25/86)
> > > Recently I heard about for an anti-rape device consisting > > of a breakable vial of skunk oil. The idea is this:.... > > The odor would stay with the attacker for several days, making it > > easier for police identification.... > > I am under the impression that tomato juice neutralizes skunk odor, so > it's not clear how useful this would be for identification purposes. A > few years ago in Oakland there was a serial rapist ("Stinky"?) who > according to the news media was reported to have a really noticable foul > smell, and I don't recall that he was ever identified. A false sense > of security is dangerous. It was Berkeley, and one of the main reasons that Stinky was never caught was that the Berkeley city council was a band of jackasses. Here was a rapist who could best be identified through smell, but the city council wouldn't let the police department use dogs to track him down. It seems that the use of dogs reminded them too much of Selma, Alabama. Never mind that the dogs would be used to track down a smelly rapist instead of maul protestors; it's appearances that count. This same city council also wouldn't let the police go from door to door to educate the public about Stinky in the neighborhoods where he operated; this would somehow lead to Berkeley becoming a "police state". As for skunk oil, I know from experience that tomato juice doesn't remove the odor very well. Baking powder works better, but the odor still stays around for days. And no, it wasn't me who got skunked, it was my dog. -- Jeff Lichtman at rtech (Relational Technology, Inc.) "Saints should always be judged guilty until they are proved innocent..." {amdahl, sun}!rtech!jeff {ucbvax, decvax}!mtxinu!rtech!jeff
ix21@sdcc6.UUCP (David Whiteman) (01/26/86)
In reply to a preceding article about the use of skunk oil as an anti-rape weapon. Yes skunk oil is available, and it is effective. It does have the problem that if the would be rapist is on some kinds of drugs, his sense of smell is wiped out. So the skunk oil is not effective. Also the company also manufactures a skunk oil scent removal kit (e.g. tomato juice) so the victim does not have to smell for 4-5 days. Presumably the attacker can use tomato juice too, so the smell will not identify to the police. -- ---- David Whiteman, University of California, San Diego
carlc@tektronix.UUCP (Carl Clawson) (01/28/86)
In article <845@rtech.UUCP> jeff@rtech.UUCP (Jeff Lichtman) writes: >> >> A few years ago in Oakland there was a serial rapist ("Stinky"?) who >> according to the news media was reported to have a really noticable [sic] >> foul smell, and I don't recall that he was ever identified. > >It was Berkeley, and one of the main reasons that Stinky was never caught >was that the Berkeley city council was a band of jackasses. Stinky _was_ caught! They didn't have enough evidence to prosecute, but the individual responsible was identified and the attacks stopped. It's hard to prosecute someone based on smell, as well it should be. -- Carl Clawson Solid State Research Lab / Tek Labs carlc@tektronix (503) 627-6304
freed@aum.UUCP (Erik Freed) (01/29/86)
> In reply to a preceding article about the use of skunk oil as an > anti-rape weapon. Yes skunk oil is available, and it is effective. > It does have the problem that if the would be rapist is on some > kinds of drugs, his sense of smell is wiped out. So the skunk oil > is not effective. Also the company also manufactures a skunk oil > scent removal kit (e.g. tomato juice) so the victim does not have to > smell for 4-5 days. Presumably the attacker can use tomato juice > too, so the smell will not identify to the police. From my memories of tales of people being skunked, it seems that there are two things that should be added to this discussion. First is that the smell up close to the victim is not just bad, it is overpoweringly bad, I believe that except for maybe pcp or total derangement (I certainly admit these as a possibility) The smell would probably leave both of you retching. The other point is that while the smell can be abated by tomato juice it still is going to be noticeable for quite a while. Certainly long enough for the police to identify the person if they are stopping him due to a appearance identification. Also it is probably good evidence in court if other people can testify that they smelled it at any time around him... I like the idea if the vial is really easy to use and somehow the victim does have the wherewithall to use it. Maybe a combination of mace and skunk oil? -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Erik James Freed Aurora Systems San Francisco, CA {dual,ptsfa}!aum!freed
mcb@styx.UUCP (Michael C. Berch) (01/31/86)
In article <6370@tektronix.UUCP> carlc@tektronix.UUCP (Carl Clawson) writes: > In article <845@rtech.UUCP> jeff@rtech.UUCP (Jeff Lichtman) writes: > >> > >> A few years ago in Oakland there was a serial rapist ("Stinky"?) who > >> according to the news media was reported to have a really noticable [sic] > >> foul smell, and I don't recall that he was ever identified. > > > >It was Berkeley, and one of the main reasons that Stinky was never caught > >was that the Berkeley city council was a band of jackasses. > > Stinky _was_ caught! They didn't have enough evidence to prosecute, > but the individual responsible was identified and the attacks stopped. It's > hard to prosecute someone based on smell, as well it should be. Someone from Berkeley can provide the full details here, but my memory of the ultimate outcome was that a robbery suspect in Oakland was shot & killed by police or a fellow robber, and was believed (to the satisfaction of the Berkeley police) to be Stinky. The attacks then stopped. Michael C. Berch ARPA: mcb@lll-tis-b.ARPA UUCP: {akgua,allegra,cbosgd,decwrl,dual,ihnp4,sun}!idi!styx!mcb
hedden@atux01.UUCP (D. Hedden) (02/04/86)
In article <698@decwrl.DEC.COM>, kolling@decwrl.DEC.COM (Karen Kolling) writes: > > > Recently I heard about for an anti-rape device consisting > > of a breakable vial of skunk oil. The idea is this:.... > > The odor would stay with the attacker for several days, making it > > easier for police identification.... > > ... impression that tomato juice neutralizes skunk odor, so > it's not clear how useful this would be for identification purposes. > ... A false sense of security is dangerous. Having used several quarts of tomato juice to deodorize my dog, I can tell you that it will not remove the odor completely, but it does tone it down considerably. It probably would be much more effective on humans. I think the idea may be more deterrance than identification. Skunk odor would certainly deter me!! However, I agree that a false sense of security is your worst enemy. "The moving hand writes ..."