popplers

Reeking havoc

I was outside for most of today, raking leaves. At one point, I heard some yelling from next door. At first, I didn't think much of it, since I often hear yelling from next door. (They have 2 young kids who often play in the yard.) But then I thought I saw a shadow near the garage, so I went to investigate. There were a few of the neighborhood cats running around, and a prominent aroma of skunk. Ohhh-kaay.

Neighbor guy said that there was a skunk running around in his yard, and that it might have gone into our garage. Krep. I took a few steps in and looked around, cautiously banging my rake against the cement floor. Didn't see or hear anything unusual. Everything smelled like skunk, since it had sprayed right next door in the yard. Neighbor guy had already called the animal control officer, so there wasn't much to do. I went back to raking.

Animal Control showed up, and started poking around in the garage. He found the skunk right away, hiding in the back corner behind some lumber. The skunk was not interested in coming out, and was getting more and more irritated at being disturbed. He seemed to be hopping up and down (hopping mad?) and he sprayed inside the garage at least once (maybe more) while Animal Control was trying to coax him out. Stinging.

I moved a lot of stuff out of the garage so that the skunk would have a clear path to leave, then stood back and waited. The Skunk Whisperer kept on rattling things and poking into the corner with a broom. Finally, the skunk bumbled out of the corner and headed out of the garage. Unfortunately, he made a beeline for the neighbor's yard and immediately hid underneath his shed.

I shut the garage door before any other mustelid refugees set up shop. I'd love to say that the skunk trotted off into the sunset to share his odor with the world, but it was not to be. The Animal Control guy came back with a gun, shot the little stinker, and took the carcass away in a plastic bucket (with a lid). I assume that they were worried about rabies, but it was sad to see the little guy meet a premature death. And the garage is still nasty.

Posted by rv at November 7, 2004 12:23 AM to home