There is nothing quite like the odor of skunk to pull one out of a sound sleep into a state of alert wakefulness. How on earth is it that such a small, rather pretty looking creature can instantly bring one to a heightened state of awareness? Any other wild animal strolling past our bedroom window in the wee hours of the morning would pretty much have us leaping out of bed and boldly stepping onto the back deck. However, the sleep permeating smell of skunk will see Darrell and I cautiously opening the back screen door, one of us invariably armed with a shotgun while the other holds the spotlight, peering out and “clearing” the deck before venturing out to do battle with this stinky creature.
Skunks have to be one of Nature’s leaders in the chemical warfare department. This particular odor for those who have never had the dubious pleasure of experiencing it is pretty much indescribable! It really is a smell that “gets up your nose” and seems to stay there long after the offending creature has merrily strolled off on it’s way, for yes, this animal really does have a tendency to stroll without a care in the world. Thankfully I myself have never been sprayed by a skunk although our dogs have had the occasional run in with them, one time being when Brandy had just delivered a litter of puppies and she had to be in the laundry room! Poor girl, a cold bath outside after being doused with a concoction of baking soda, dish soap and hydrogen peroxide in the middle of a frosty winter night then hosed off with cold water was not her cup of tea at all! Mine neither as I got a healthy dose of cold water on me while outside on the lawn performing the ministrations!
I have however had a couple of close calls with these pesky pests. The first one was a face to face… literally… encounter. We had a pack rat in the barn that was driving me up the wall. The cats were not doing a grand job of catching him so I set our trusty “Have-a-Heart” live trap alongside the grain bins with a section of black chimney pipe in front of the trap opening to entice him in. Pack rats love to scurry through dark chimney pipe… works every time! Of course when we set the live traps we always have a habit of checking them right off the bat in the mornings to see if we have caught the offending creature. The corner of the barn where the trap was set was a dimly lit area and I did not bother to turn on the light but just bent over and picked up the trap since I could see it had been sprung. As I picked the trap up I was thinking: “Goodness! This is a hefty fellow!” then as I hoisted it up to eye level to look at the dirty little rotter that obviously was in there, here I was staring eye to eye with a skunk! A seldom used expletive crossed my lips as I immediately dropped the trap and jumped backwards. The trap burst open and I ran one way while the skunk dived for a hole under the bunkhouse. It must have decided this was not a friendly place to stay as I never did see that one again nor did he or she leave a smelly deposit at the barn thank goodness!
My first encounter with actually catching and dispatching a skunk was quite the learning experience. Skunks love eggs and are very adept and finding a way into a chicken house to see if the farmer has forgotten to remove the day’s egg supply, as sometimes happens here on the farm. The next morning when you realize you have forgotten to gather eggs the evening before, all you find is the detritus of the skunk’s nightly meal, eggs shells everywhere. So when this was starting to happen on a regular basis the trusty live trap was set outside the chicken coop baited with a cracked egg. The next morning as I headed down to milk, there was a very nice looking but obviously grumpy skunk inside the trap. He did not growl at me but stomped his little front feet and lifted his tail in a gesture of defiance but I felt confident since I was on the front end of his warning stance and not the hind. Well he was in the trap but how were we to get him out! I had used our larger sized trap this time, which was a mistake. Some kind soul had told us if you shoot a skunk in the head it will not spray so I came back with my trusty .22 rifle and did exactly that, shot that skunk right in the head and it dropped like a rock. I was feeling pretty pleased with myself when just then as the skunk relaxed… and sprayed. Oh my gosh, water does not work well when skunk spray is on dirt and it takes more than a year for that smell to go away! So much for the head shot theory!
Since this encounter we have become rather adept at catching and dispatching these pesky creatures. Thankfully with no stinky personal encounters to report. It seems as if there has been a flood of skunks in our area over the past three or four years. In fact a couple of years ago we started noticing a great deal more evidence of an increase in the skunk population all over eastern and central Oregon. At certain times of the year the smell of skunk from deceased ones on the roadside was an inevitability on a road trip to Bend for groceries rather than an exception. I am sure these creatures are here for a purpose and yes they do like to eat mice and other rodents but they sure are devastating on any type of bird egg they come across and my goodness they are good at finding them!
Yes indeed, I think it is time to put the “Have-a-Heart” trap to use once again and dispatch this smelly intruder. After all, we have over 300 acres out there for him or her to find sustenance on, maybe if I become a little more diligent about collecting the evening eggs… yes that is what I shall do… maybe then he or she may wander farther afield for an evening snack. Darrell just mentioned they will eat anything and seem to like corn and drat… we have a garden full this year. Skunk battle 2015 here we go…