We are southbound out of Albuquerque on a mission of mercy and we are lost. This is not a good thing, since Jerry Dragoo and I are traveling with three living time bombs in the bed of his bouncy pickup. And if they blow, it will ruin an otherwise perfect New Mexico day. At least, it will ruin it for me. Dragoo, who earns his keep as a postdoc fellow at the University of New Mexico, where he runs the genetics lab of biology professor Terry Yates, couldn’t care less.
Dragoo is a mephitologist, which, loosely defined, means he’s a skunk guy. He is fascinated by the Mephitidae. Indeed, he adores the little stinkers. He studies their lineage. He keeps four as pets.
When Dragoo needs a skunk for his research, he goes into the field, spots one, chases it down, and picks it up. Literally. By the tail (no, ...
