By Associated Press, 6/9/2003

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Residents on Willow Street in this southeast Missouri town find the skunk roaming their neighborhood charming and anything but a stinker.

This skunk apparently likes people, even following neighbors around and brushing against their legs like a cat.

Since making its presence known a couple of years ago, the olfactory-offending animal has become a fixture around Willow Street.

"He really took up with a woman who lived down the road," said Margie Timmons. "He would wait for her at her mailbox at night when she would get home from work."