What a way to start out a day!

[Dana Hackney]

Got up this a.m. and was rather excited about getting into the shop.....got there and was opening the door and noticed a rather rancid smell....and it kept getting worse. My little 8x12 sits up on pilons and has enough space under the sides for critters to get in underneath. Anyway, I found (rather it found me!) culprit.....an dead skunk!

It took me about an hour and a half to pull that POC out from underneath the shed. I did not dare pull the thing out by the tail and managed to get a hold of its fly ridden head gently pull it out.

I called the town clerk to see what the town could do and they forwarded me to the county animal "control" folks and they, in turn, hooked me up to the State Wildlife and Parks dept. When asked what they could do to help they said, : "oh, just double bag it and put it in your trash"! I said, "what!".

Can you image that thing in the trash till next Monday?! Gosh, isn't great to see your tax dollars at work?

I think I'm going to find the major's office's trash can and.........

[Ed Caffrey]

I think I'm going to find the major's office's trash can and.......

Good Idea Dana! Seems only fair that if they are getting paid with your mony...they should "share" in the "spoils"!

[jim poling]

Dana I agree that is a bad way to start your day and Ed nailed it when he said spoils! PEEEUUUUUU!:0)

Jim

[Dana Hackney]

I thought I had it pretty well aired out but that mixture of rotting flesh and skunk juice just didn't respond to just a bleach bath. I had to go to Walmart and get some moth balls and scatter them all underneath the shed and then hang a couple of car air fresheners inside.....and it still smells awful. Anyone have a spare grinder that I can use in THEIR shop !

Oh well, I guess I won't have to worry about being disturbed by solicitors

Dana

[Doug Lester]

Kind of reminds me of a story, I think it was from up in Chicago, where a man somewhere in the 'burbs had a skunk living in his garage. Someone complained about it and the city sent him a notice that he had to get rid of it or face being fined for maintaining wildlife on his property.

So, he calls city animal control and they tell him that they did't remove wild animals. He then call the wildlife department and they tell him that they didn't remove wildlife either but they also inform him that it was illegal for him to trap, poison, harass, or harm the skunk in any way. They also agreed that it was illegal for him to allow it to roost in his garage.

After going to the city office that sent the warning letter and noting to them that it was both illegal for him to "maintain" the skunk on his property and to remove it, the city decided that he could hire a professional animal remover to trap the skunk and relocate it.

Doug

[Dana Hackney]

Isn't that the height of stupidity, Doug! You wonder where they round up these fools that make such insane ordinances! I bet the situation would have been entirely different if that skunk resided in one of the "official's" garages.

I've got a couple of those car fresheners (passion fruit) and a bag of potpourri (Oregon Mist) in the shop now. Mixed in with rotten skunk it kind of reminds me of the high school lunch room .

Dana

[Ed Tipton]

Dana...Your story reminds me of the old addage that it's easier to get forgiveness than it is to get permission. Personally, I'd find out where those city officials live and give them a dead skunk for their consideration.

[cdent]

It's different, but reminded me about a goose hunt back a while where my buddy's dog took a direct skunk hit. I tried to get him to tie the pup up to a tree and just let it air out, but we spent hours scrubbing and trying different home remedies instead of hunting. The real treat was, the dog had to sleep in the flea bag motel with us and couldn't stay in the back of the truck. My friend was from Billings, do you think it's a Montana thing. Ooops, still one of my good old days memories.

Naw, I think you picked up a valuable lesson though. Pretty much, don't call the 'authorities' for anything.

[Gene Chapman]

1969, recently out of the Navy, rented a log home on Puget Sound, a skunk lived under the house, no trouble until our new little dog harassed it, skunk bombed, but didn't get the dog, boy did that house stink, wife went shopping the next day, someone asked, do you smell a skunk, nope she sez and left the store. true story

[Dana Hackney]

reading these replies is helping me laugh this one off

Thanks guys!
Dana

[Julie Coffey]

I'll take a dead one over live any day! For years I was a #######d fur breeder of skunks in MI. but kits went for pets, we even had exotic colors like champagne and mahogany.

One day I got a call from one of my professors who had a live one under his deck and needed help removing the trap, animal control was too busy to come out. It was a rodeo to say the least. And no I didn't get extra credit for it.

[Dana Hackney]

Whoa, Julie! You've got more intestinal fortitude that yours truly. I bet you kept a 55 gal drum full of tomato juice handy.

Dana

[Julie Coffey]

No tomato juice in the house at all! All my breeders were descent-ed and we descent-ed the kits when they were 2-3 weeks old. They really are no more musty than a male ferret at that point. But do they ever have attitude, probably the one thing I liked about them most.

Nothing was more humorous though when my one male Charlemagne would get mad, stomp his feet then spin around and bristle his tail at me. I'd laugh at him and say "What do you think your going to do with that? Your shooting blanks dude." I swear I gave him a complex.

Ah, the fond memories.

[Walt2]

Julie, we used to have a pet skunk and what you are describing are some of the same actions that ours would do. I have been successful in getting skunks out of confined areas with moth balls, they do not like them an so far everyone I have tried to remove have left the area.

[TexasJack]

During last year's drought, we had skunks in the neighborhood every night. It got to be a real game in trying to get past them to go in or out.

One of my neighbors let his dogs outside but spotted a skunk just as they ran out. He went after them trying to stop them, but the skunk sprayed them first. The dogs then went running at full tilt past him and into the house, where they commenced to trying to rub off the smell on the couch, the pillows, the rug, etc. Took him a month and several professional cleanings to get the smell out.