My Unbased Opinion

Skunks galore this year. Where did they all come from? Streets and highways have been a stinking mess past several months with their squished remains. It’s gotten to the point where I take a careful look around back yard in Moorefield before I step out each morning, because I don’t want to spend the day scrubbing in tomato juice or whatever is currently promoted as most effective skunk stink eradicator. A big fluffy one, all white above, but dark legs and belly has been perambulating around the farm this Fall. Nosing and digging around large clumps of grass in river bottom land, he/she is easy to spot at three hundred yards or better on short grazed pasture. Only thing whiter down there is head and tail of occasional Bald Eagle I’ve seen lately. Last week, Skunk moved its area of operations up to Big House. Pasture lot below the house has been minutely worked over. I watched the process one evening. Now folks have seen it closer. Front yard and farm buildings are receiving attention. Pocket flashlight has come in handy lighting my way to old Jeep on my way to Doghouse for sleep. No major stinks yet, but then there are no farm dogs around to induce skunks to round to squirt as they did when I was a boy. I don’t remember ever being sprayed directly, but I remember going to school smelling of skunk. Occasionally one got under Big House. Relatively open crawl space down there is near perfect for harboring varmints. I remember lying in bed at night, that awful stench of disturbed skunk rolling up back steps, permeating everything. I’d bury myself under the covers, pillow over my head and still, my eyes would burn and I’d gag. No way to get away from it, no place to hide. I remember one occasion when odor was so intense Mom couldn’t tell how bad I might smell away from home so she let me miss school a day until things calmed down. We had pet skunks one time when we lived in Berwin, Maryland, before we moved back to Pap’s home place at Wardensville. Pap and other veterinarians he worked with at Beltsville, animal disease research station, discovered a nest of skunks on the grounds near his laboratory. Skunks were duly gathered and scent glands were removed. Pap brought them home and kept them in a sand box built for Sis and me in our back yard. That’s hearsay to me because I was too small to remember, but Sis remembers the pet skunks well. Apparently there is truth to the idea that skunks can be prevented from spraying. All one needs do is pick them up by the tail. I’ve read that skunk’s tail must be perpendicular to his spine to facilitate aiming and squirting. Evidently a well practiced skunk is extremely accurate aiming for face and eyes of anything which disturbs it. But supposedly, a quick snatch of the tail and jerk his hind legs off the ground may leave skunk spinning and mad, but impotent with no defense but his feet and teeth if you hold him too close to your leg. All that may be true, but I’m not game to try it. Even if lucky enough to be holding a squirming defenseless skunk safely dangling by the tail, how do I turn it loose? Instant I release his tail he’ll have me before I can get away. Not me. I ain’t trying it. Several times I’ve caught skunks while trapping groundhogs under Big House. Inevitably they squirt I shoot them from a distance, then after a couple days for odor to dissipate, carry them off, trap and all to a place where other varmints I can clean my trap for later retrieval. Through recent research I’ve found live skunk traps supposedly safe. Trap consists of pipe into which skunk is baited, diameter so tight he can’t raise his tail and door closes behind him. Skunk, trap and all, can then be carried away to a release point where hopefully end doors can be opened remotely. Lastly, Beware of skunks because they can be deadly. Large cyclical populations of several varmints, skunks, opossums, foxes and others are associated with outbreaks of Rabies. Rabies, nearly always fatal to humans, is transmitted through salivary glands in animal’s mouths. If a skunk bites you, go directly to a doctor. If your pet comes in with evidence it has been in contact with a skunk be absolutely certain it’s rabies vaccinations are up to date and still go to a doctor/veterinarian for advice on a possible quarantine or additional treatment.