Mephitis: Man or Moo?

Back in Canada I lived near an egg farm.

When the wind was wrong the stink of chicken poop drifted toward town. The egg farm also attracted skunks that were squashed by cars on a fairly regular basis; driving past with the windows up made no difference: the eye-watering reek of road kill still invaded the vehicle, forcing an emergency exhaust exercise (driving at 100km/h with all the windows down, vents open, and fans blasting).

Other farms in the area used a variety of pungent fertilizers, but when you live near the countryside, you get used to such aromas.

Thus when we decided to move to a New Territories village edged by farmland, I knew what to expect.

At least I thought I did.

I've been assaulted by many foul odors since moving to Hong Kong, but what just breezed in through the windows was truly fetid. I rushed through the house to shut all the windows, but the stench wouldn't dissipate, so I made a second pass with a can of deodoriser.

The stink was so ripe that I thought one of the septic tanks had leaked, but upon further investigation I learned that the next door neighbours had simply fertilized their vegetable garden. I know that no one uses night soil nowadays, but after this I wonder.

Because if that was cow manure, someone needs to adjust their diet.

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