Close Encounters...

... of the skunk kind! Last night while taking out the trash I ran into my little friend Pepe Le Pew. I was on the front porch with two bags of trash in hand and headlamp on head. There was some russling in the ivy on the side of the house next to the driveway. At first I thought it was a deer because it was slow sounding and if it were a cat it would have taken off. But then I shine the light in the direction and catch a glimspe of black, oh and white too!

So the smart thing to do would be to back away. Nope, not me I needed confirmation that it was a skunk. I walk down the steps thinking I would see it walking away down the driveway. Well, I guess Pepe is a brave little !$@! because as I get to the bottom of the steps and shine the light down the driveway, there he/she is! Two eyes shining from the light and one black and white tail raised in the air! It was just standing there staring me down. I would say we were about 30 ft apart and didn't stay there too long to test its spray range.

From what I read online they turn their butt to you and raise their tail to spray so I guess I was lucky it was looking at me rather than turned around ready to strike. I always thought they sprayed from the tips of the tails like a scorpion would attack with its stinger. Seems more glamorous than just walking away and basically farting on your enemy.

At any rate, this thing has to be taken care of, I'm tired of being scared to walk around my own forest (I mean yard).