It all began in the wee hours of Friday morning. Our outside dogs had been barking unceasingly and Suzy decided to join in, unceasingly. She has a shrill, piercing bark and it finally reached the point that my husband had to get up and tell her to be quiet. As we lay there in the dark, trying to go back to sleep my husband suddenly said, "Skunk! Do you smell it??" Sure enough...I caught the faintest whiff of "perfume". We knew the outside dogs must have cornered one and the smell was somehow getting into the house.
Friday morning we found it. He (she? I wasn't getting close enough to identify the sex) was huddled in the corner of the flower bed, hiding behind a waterhose caddy. If you look closely at this photo you'll see him.
We tried the keep the dogs away in hopes he'd take the opportunity to escape. No luck. Skunks tend to be nocturnal, so he wasn't planning to go anywhere for awhile. Throughout the day the dogs would get close and bark at him. Fortunately they stayed out of range and never got sprayed directly. Still....he was warning them and the perfume lingered.
Around 3:30 Saturday morning my husband heard them barking again. This time he went outside and used the waterhose to keep the dogs away from him. Then he sprayed in the skunk's general direction hoping to drive him out. It must have worked since he was gone at daybreak....and it must have been an uneventful exit since none of the dogs got targeted.
Whew! I'm glad that's over! I'm sure our visitor is glad, too.
We tried the keep the dogs away in hopes he'd take the opportunity to escape. No luck. Skunks tend to be nocturnal, so he wasn't planning to go anywhere for awhile. Throughout the day the dogs would get close and bark at him. Fortunately they stayed out of range and never got sprayed directly. Still....he was warning them and the perfume lingered.Around 3:30 Saturday morning my husband heard them barking again. This time he went outside and used the waterhose to keep the dogs away from him. Then he sprayed in the skunk's general direction hoping to drive him out. It must have worked since he was gone at daybreak....and it must have been an uneventful exit since none of the dogs got targeted.
Whew! I'm glad that's over! I'm sure our visitor is glad, too.
13 comments:
Skunky looks so small huddled in the corner. I'm glad he didn't leave any "lasting" memories.
I should have Sam read about YOUR skunky. LOL!!! At least his isn't odoriferous.
Not a very sweet experience!! :)
And this unexpected visitor made you do this nice post! Loved your description!
Hope you're having a great Sunday!
Big hugs,
B xx
Country kids here learn about nettles very young and NEVER forget the lesson. Is it much like that with you and the Skunk and that ivy.
Lovely post, and very nice treatment of all the animals by you and yours. Well done!
All the best, B
I never realised that they smelt this bad - of course I knew they stunk if they sprayed whatever it is they spray - is it an eye-watering smell?
I hope he got away without spraying! We had a snake last week at the front door.
Blessings!!
Whew, and phew!
I'm wondering if you would have to wash your house in tomato juice or something!
I am glad we got the skunk post also. To me they are much more exotic than the 8 questions - never in our backyard, but that is probably just as well.
I'm glad you were all so entertained by my skunk story!
Boonie - I, too, was glad that the skunk didn't meet an unfortunate end.
Tracy - once you ever smell "skunk", you'll never forget it! Personally I don't find it as offensive as "chicken litter", but it's still pretty awful.
I know he sprayed the air several times, but fortunately for my dogs it didn't get on any of them. I'm still picturing trying to wash the house down with tomato juice, Jenners!
Oh..and Vince - I've had some experience with nettles, too. Or at least something we call "bull nettle" around here. Very painful!
Poor little skunk! We don't have them here, so while I know that they smell bad, I don't know how bad (so I'm sympathizing with the skunk...).
Glad for both his (hers?) and your sake that he (she?) is gone now, though :)
Cruella - Bet you wouldn't sympathize quite as much if you got in the line of fire!! :)
I'm pretty sure it's an oily substance (as well as stinky) and not so easy to remove!
I did feel sorry for it, though.
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