It can be that an animal crawled back there and died. When I worked in
landscaping way back when I was in school, it wasn't unusual to start
removing bushes or brush in a grownup area and smell that smell you
described and run across the skeletal remains of some animal that died
long ago. I'm now an insurance claims adjuster and run into that
scenario all the time when I am inspecting accident scenes and come
across roadkill that looks a year or more old in ditches. It smells
bad, really musky, but not anywhere as bad a newly rotting and maggot
infested meat cooking in the sun.

Sorry for the visual.

On Thu, 7 Jul 2005 14:44:53 +0000 (UTC), wrote:

In my front yard, I often smell something that smells very
much like a skunk--this is to the south of a front deck,
among some thick bushes. The smell is LIKE the smell of
a frightened or road-squashed skunk, but not as pungent
or offensive. But it's very similar.

What in the world might be living in my bushes or under my
deck that makes a smell like that? Anybody? I haven't seen
any actual signs of inhabitation, just that smell most of
the time I go in the bushes. TIA.