[APML] Critter stories (Was NGC7000 in Tech Pan)

[Alan Voetsch <critter12952@yahoo.com>]

Hey Stuart,

--- Stuart Heggie <stuart.j.heggie@sympatico.ca> wrote:
> under the tummy and I'm thinking "You know, I don't recall her having
> this
> big wide white stripe on her back YIKES!!!". Backing away quickly but
> the
> skunk never even acknowledged my presence or proximity!

That could've been nasty. They tend to be pretty stoic, but if they are
startled, well, you know...

 My dog had hundreds of skunk encounters before he died this last
Summer. He never learned to leave them alone. If I was bored, I'd get a
flashlight and go out and watch him get his ass whipped. One time he
got his teeth into one, but he let go pretty quick and ran off to rub
his face in the grass. I used to laugh so hard watching him get
whooped, and of course, he ALWAYS went back for more.

Our water heater shed/closet is outside on the back porch, and the side
has a small hole cut into for cats to go in and out. We used to keep
the cat food in there so the dog wouldn't eat it. Of course the other
critters small enough to get in found it and started helping themselves
too. The dog constantly had skunks trapped in there and, while he
couldn't get in, he scared them enough to get them to spray pretty
often. Well, right on the inside of the wall where the water heater is,
is the closet to one of the kid's bedrooms. My oldest daughter used to
have to wear the stinkiest clothes to school that you'd ever want to
smell. I stopped that whole thing by no longer putting cat food in
there, but for about a year it always stunk around here.

About 7 years ago, my girls found an injured skunk as they were walking
home from school. They carried it home in their arms and named it
Horace. It got to live in my observatory for about 10 days as it
recovered. Once it was feeling good enough to start spraying us all the
time, I figured it was healthy enough to get on with it's life and
released it. Eventually, I was able to clean up his crap (took some
doing) and the smell went away.

The current skunk (I named him 'Skunky') comes up on the front porch
and eats cat food there every night. Actually, several times a night. I
can open the door gently and look at him and talk to him, but sudden
movements send him scurrying away to his hole at the side of the house.
This hole gives him access to all the area under the house. Once in
awhile as I'm going out to check the progress of a shot, we have an
enexpected encouter and I have to stop, or move very slowly to avoid
startling him, which of course is the last thing any of us wants.

Of course, I haven't even mentioned the constant racoon raids that go
on around here. We not only have to feed 4 cats, but probably half a
dozen other critters as well. At least they're small critters. :-)

Alan

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