Some days, I feel like I’ve dodged a bullet. Yesterday, I was ready for a morning of barnyard chores, poised to exit the back door with Keela at my side.
Then, I spied this.
Wow. Really?
I was not amused. I was, however, grateful we had not yet stepped out the door. Keela is unable to resist chasing these critters and getting sprayed.
This guy was in no hurry to leave. I watched him cross the barnyard fence line, then slink under the gate into the backyard. He did his little skunk waddle/walk around the tall grasses for a while until he got to the fence.
Hmmm. Now what?
Then I watched him squeeze through an impossibly small space under the fence into my crabby neighbor’s yard.
Bye bye. Good luck with that wet tail—it’s a mess!
In all the years we’ve lived here, I had never actually seen a skunk. I guess I can check that one off my list now.
This little episode added one more item to my weekend chores. Keela was sprayed a few weeks ago (right in the mouth, that was so gross for both of us) but that wasn’t the end of it. A few days later, the skunk sprayed our patio steps and despite a good scrubbing, we still smell it every time we walk out the back door. I suspected it might be living under the stairs and piled rocks up to block the gaps. I now know the skunk can squeeze through a teeny-tiny space, so I need to rework that fix to create a solid barrier.
All in all, not a bad encounter. Nothing got sprayed and I learned a little. I feel lucky. Might be a good time to buy a lottery ticket—somebody’s gotta win, right? 🙂
I saw one at night in our other backyard, thought it was a BIG cat 🙂 Luckily I realized it was a skunk and didn’t let the dog out!
Good for you! Keela is so miserable when she gets hit. Not to mention the rest of us 🙂
This might sound wacko to you, and everyone–everyone–has their own secret remedy, but here goes…Massengill douche. Not the healthy kind, the old-fashioned, oppressive to women kind. My pack got sprayed when one of my houses was on the market, and the vet’s receptionist told me about it. I bought a jar of the powder-to-rehydrate kind, mixed it up, and it worked on dogs, yard, fence, everything. I went back and bought the drugstore out of jars (and these were big jars), ignoring the odd look from the cashier. It might not work on your entry, but maybe it will. Now let’s take a moment to ponder a product designed to go into women’s bodies that will eliminate skunk stink.
Oh my, this made me laugh!! I use hydrogen peroxide on the dog and it works great, but I will definitely give this a try. Thanks for the tip! 🙂
Oh my. Glad you saw the skunk before it saw you! Disaster averted!
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