this day is already a stinker

[pdfangus]

This day is already a stinker…..

I got up at my usual time this morning about 4:20. No I don’t know why….it is an old habit established years ago when I used to have to drive to Maryland to go to work…..it was easier jut to get up early every morning….now the dogs are used to it and even if I don’t set the clock they are going to wake me up about that time…..

This morning the clock and Apache both went off at one time…the clock with its beep beep beep, and Apache by bumping me with his front paws…..

So I got up and trundled down stairs….opened the front door and looked out and did not see any evidence of lions tigers or bears or any snakes on the porch….don’t laugh…we have had enough of them over the years that snake checking in the dark is also a long established habit……

So I let the dogs out and they scurried off to their preferred spots to attend to nature….

I stumbled into the kitchen and turned on the coffee maker and the Tee Vee and grabeed a dog bone for the dogs….

Headed back to the front of the house and caught the new and unmistakable essence of Kitty De Woods…….Pepe Le Pew…..a damned skunk…..

Thank goodness I smelled it before I opened the door……I then set off on a quest to find the Natures Miracle Skunk formula….I knew we had some but had no idea where it was….finally found it and a rag and steeled myself to go outside and deal with it…..

Actually it was not too bad….Dee Dee seemed to have not been involved as a nose directly over her head was not offended…Apache was another story….But he was not awful….just a little stinky…. Apparently he did engage Pepe in combat and a little stink sent him on his way….

I recalled some former skunk encounters….My first Aussie, Monte, hated a skunk and he would kill every one he found….He even developed a method of killing them without getting sprayed….I never did figure out how he did that….

Then there was the long ago new years night a while after the turn from the old year to the new year when I let the dogs out and all three of them had battled a skunk….I did not scent it until I opened the door and all three raced in…..that was long night….. now don’t remember the year so I can not testify whether or not the whole year ended up stinking.

One time the Gator Girls, Tana and Tee Tee, had a tug of war with one right in front of the front porch….the whole house got sprayed…..

Anyhow armed with the Natures miracle I went out and wiped Apache and Dee Dee down with it….that is one good product….nothing will erase the essence de wood kitty but with the natures miracle you can at least make it bearable….I treated Apache twice more and got him pretty thoroughly wet which is the key….

Then when I went out to my van to come to work, I realized that it was in the area of the encounter….Fortunately half our staff is on Vacation because as I sit here in the office I detect that I also have a slight tinge of natures awful essence clinging to me…I am spraying myself with Lysol and hoping no one important stops by to see me today…think I will turn my fan on and share the joy……

 

[dun]

In the central valley in ca we used to flood irrigate and usually got the water at night. I wouldn;t see or smell a skunk for a week then on irrigation night I would run into half a dozen of them while setting up the water routs. I started carrying a 22 pistol with a flash light duct taped to it. That was long before all of these tactical lights and mounts were in existence. I did discover that shooting them in the head they don;t spray, just leak a bit and that their necks fit perfectly between the tines of a pitchfork and their heads won;t slip through so I could carry a couple of them at a time. I would take them up and throw them in the irrigation canal and let them wash away.

 

[alisonb]

That made me chuckle as I can relate to it very well. Don't know how many times I have had to wash Mr Fish(my little dauchund/J Russel) in the early hours of morning.
Hope you got through work OK :lol:

 

[hillsdown]

Spartan used to get it all the time by accident, he would go barreling off in hot pursuit of a coyote scent that his nose grabbed and h*lls bells to all in his path .
Needless to say he received quite a few wistful sprayings as he went speeding by .
If he saw the skunk however it was anther story .
I went out one day and saw him laying very quietly, head down , looking at me looking at his food then back to me .
Why was he so stoic and looking at his food , well a skunk had decided that his dog food was pretty darn tasty and Spartan must have thought "hey buddy it's all yours you are just not worth getting stinky over today" .
That was the only thing Spartan was aggressive to the dogs and cats over , his food was his and you had better not go near it , except the stinky striped cat was allowed an all you can eat buffet.
Smart dog . :nod:

For the dogs that get sprayed that I can bathe I use Crest Original toothpaste , sometimes 5 or more tubes depending on how bad they got it then wash and condition them as normal . The smell is always completely gone even when they get damp or wet again.

 

[Anonymous]

In the central valley in ca we used to flood irrigate and usually got the water at night. I wouldn;t see or smell a skunk for a week then on irrigation night I would run into half a dozen of them while setting up the water routs. I started carrying a 22 pistol with a flash light duct taped to it. That was long before all of these tactical lights and mounts were in existence. I did discover that shooting them in the head they don;t spray, just leak a bit and that their necks fit perfectly between the tines of a pitchfork and their heads won;t slip through so I could carry a couple of them at a time. I would take them up and throw them in the irrigation canal and let them wash away.

That brings back some good memories of my grandpas farm in az. Flood irrigating when they sent the water down the ditches once a week.

We have skunks here in fl but never see them. Only smell them once or twice a year.