The skunk apes have heard her speak English for the first time. Thus, she's been ironically anthropomorphised into a funny animal since a couple of years ago, when she's bought off from a dying rival circus.
The skunk apes are rather brutish and can stink a LOT like skunks. They are also dangerous and can be very greedy in the summertime.
'And what about Jan? He'll never see his mother for the rest of his life - because she herself, who's a feral woman born with various conditions, has been proven to be far too much of a disaster to the bodice ripper scientist who conceived him.', The Mother skunk Ape said.