This musk has an offensive smell and other animals will leave the food alone. As well, scent marking is used to identify individuals within a group. By smelling scent markings, animals like wolves can determine the sex and other characteristics of animals that made the markings. Animals place their scent markings in different locations. Skunks spray their smelly liquid into the air and beavers place it on specially built mounds of mud near the water's edge.
Black bears leave their scent markings with claw marks on nearby trees.
The scent glands that produce the scent-marking liquid can be located in many different parts of the body. Some of these glands are located on their head, legs, and feet.