Skunk vs. Rose

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Question - Why are we repelled by the scent of a skunk and attracted to the scent of a rose?

The famous Looney Tune character Pepé Le Pew always wanted to fall in love. Only if he was a Rose with legs, arms and a mouth. All he need is that scent instead of his distinct, grossing smell that would drive all of the others within his looney cartoon world.

Humans are drawn away from the smell of the skunk because they have two glands on each side of their anus. In which have a mixture of sulfur that contains the chemicals methyl and butyl thiols which can be compared to the smell of rotten eggs.

The skunks spray can reach out up to 15 ft. Basically if you smell the skunk already, don't got anywhere near it because you can have temporary blindness. Watch out for the low molecular weight thiol compounds. Involves the (E)-2-butene, 1-thiol, 3-methyl-1-butanethiol and 2-quinolinemethanethiol.

Our national flower is the rose for a reason. It's beautiful to us in so many ways. The color that represents love in the eyes of many. Specifically the scent. Especially compared to the skunk.

Within the petals of the rose is what drives the great smell. The oil of the rose is what people can smell. All different kinds of roses provide scent appealing to the human nose. Any kind of rose will work compared to a skunk. The rose wins due to it's oil it doesn't spray at you, but overwhelms you with it's beauty.