Stink Adventures at Home and Elsewhere

We’ve been skunked! Eew! Both KXMX Ad Lady Delanna N. and I were skunked recently. Me, just last week. I don’t like skunks. They are sort of cute and cuddly, based on looks alone of course. They have that cute little pointy face, and that distinguishing stripe down the back. If you like kittens and puppies, like I do, you occasionally think you would like to get your hands on those babies and just pet them for a bit.

Then you remember why you don’t EVER do that. It’s that smell. That smell invaded my home one night last week. Eew! And Eew again! It was really pungent. And it wasn’t the first time. It may be that some skunk has taken up residence under my house. It’s pretty bad when you get the skunk squirt in the evening, and the next day you take the lingering stink to the office. That doesn’t endear you to co-workers.

Then that little devil did it again last week! I’m just sitting there, happily watching whatever OETA had on that evening, when that smell invaded my space. Oh good grief! And I always think I’ve got to check the premises to make sure it isn’t only that smell in my space. It might be that the odor owner has dropped in too. Well, what I am going to do if it did? I can guarantee that the only answer to that question is I’m going to turn around and run. To where I’m not sure. But I’ll be out of there.

And NO! I am not going to try to relocate that devil. Trapping or doing away with the stinker will most likely leave a forever odor I do not want to deal with. The only thing I can’t figure out is why skunk sprays under my house. There are no dogs or cats under there to challenge skunk. And it is kind of scary to wonder what is under there causing skunk to spray. I don’t even want to think about it. I just turned on the fans and hoped smell would dissipate before I left for KXMX the next morning.

Delanna’s skunk run-in was a bit more dramatic. And led to a skunk’s demise for a good reason. She related she had dropped into the office of Dr. Gary Cox, Sallisaw veterinarian, just to pick up some flea meds for her dogs. Tiffany is the doc’s vet assistant, and if you know Tiff, you know she is dedicated, super friendly, and has certain strong opinions. For instance, my house dog, Penny, the Mini-pincher, drives her crazy. Never mind that. We’re on a skunk story, which illustrates Tiffany’s dedication to her career.

Delanna related that while there, a skunk strolled up to doc’s front door, and began scratching at the glass, trying to enter. Now I can imagine Delanna’s response. It could have been screams heard round the world. But Tiffany took over. She decided, correctly, that the skunk was rabid, and called for help. At about the same time a couple drove up to collect their pet. As they began to get out of their vehicle, Tiffany, according to Delanna, started frantically waving for them to stay in their vehicle because that skunk was claiming the parking lot as its own.

Delanna said, “Tiffany had already locked the door, so she couldn’t open it to tell them to stay in their car. She kept yelling and waving, until they finally got the message. They got back in their car.

“Then,” Delanna continued, “we saw the skunk leaving.”

Delanna gave Tiffany her highest honor. She laughed. “I couldn’t believe it,” Delanna said. “Tiffany went out and followed that skunk! She followed it down the highway! And when the animal control officer arrived, she was out there on the highway waving at him to show him where the skunk was.”

Officer dispatched skunk, Delanna related, and all was well with no harm done to anyone or any pets. And Delanna was determined that Tiffany should get her just rewards. Thank you Tiffany! And I’m sorry Penny drives you crazy.

Hmmm. Delanna’s skunk adventure makes me wonder about my resident skunk. Well, it hasn’t tried, to the best of my knowledge, to get in the house yet. I’d like to think that perhaps its only concern is keeping my home’s crawl space as its own. Maybe it was spraying stink at something else trying to move in. Like that snake we killed last summer. So for now, skunk has a winter residence, and I sincerely hope skunks hibernate. A stink-free winter would be great, music to my ears and roses to my nose.