a love the smell of skunk in the morning

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I was born and raised a city gal. Firmly believed that concrete was the ‘natural look’, that grass grew in carefully segmented square blocks, that animals roaming around were the neighbor’s cats and dogs.

Then I moved out into the country and discovered:

That people who say things like “that raccoon is more afraid of you than you are of it” have not correctly assessed my fear level.

That “knee high by the Fourth of July” doesn’t just refer to corn.

That many small animals look remarkably similar once they’ve been introduced to the cat.

That the neighbors still shoot guns off at all times, 'cept now it isn’t a ‘drive by’ but a ‘skeet shooting tournament’.

One day recently, I came home and noted a strong odor on the back porch. It smelled like some one had burned a tire or something. I could smell it in parts of the house, too. Looked all around for signs of smouldering, found none. Called my SO and described the problem.

“Oh yea,” he says casually. “it appears we have a family of skunks who’ve moved in near our back porch.”

Damn. And I don’t even have an “Eva Gabor” type dressing gown to console me. :frowning:

2

“Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon!”

(heh heh.)

Baby skunks make kittens look ugly. They’re so cute walking in a line behind their mother with their little tails sticking straight up!

3

Yeah, but that skunk is more afraid you you.

4

Man! I MISS living in the US!!

Trust me, once you get used to it, the smell of skunk (if far away!) is actually quite pleasant…

Ah! The smell of home…

5

I smelled skunk when I left the house 20 minutes ago. Don’t think Astroboy is crazy. (OK, not that crazy then :wink: ) A faint whiff of skunk (aka polecat) isn’t all that bad. Of course, under my porch would be a different story.

Maybe I’m just used to it. It sure beats the smell of diesel blowing out of a city bus. Not that I want a skunk spraying me, of course.

6

Until I moved to Kentucky, I thought these were two seperate animals. Hehe… :slight_smile: There are polecats all over the place around there.

Of course, the worst was in February, which is the skunk’s mating season.

7

I’ll third that sentiment that skunk isn’t that bad…from a distance. Say, like zipping down a country road. Under the porch? Not so much.

Also, your cat will look an awful lot like the other small animals if introduced to the racoon.

8

Or maybe it just reminds you of another cough type of skunk. :smiley:
I’ll jump on this bandwagon and add that I don’t mind the smell … from a distance (as thinksnow said).

But then I don’t mind the smell of cattle either*, so colour me strange.
*anyone who has driven I5 from LA to SF and has passed Harris Ranch will know the smell I refer to.

9

Well, I was trying to be good and refrain, but since you brought it up…

Yeah, that faint musky smell definitely reminds me of sticky green buds. Mmmmmm!

10

I flew into there once. They have their own runway. I could smell those sackin’ cattle pens from altitude! I hate the smell of cattle.

11

That’s Harris Ranch? I’ve made that drive more than a few times. My eyes literally watered.
About the skunks. My parents had a family around their house for a while. They loved to stroll casually out from under the car as we were leaving for work early in the morning. Better than a cup of espresso, that is.

Keep the cat away from the skunks (and the racoons, and the possums–yes you have possums, too, you just don’t know it yet.)

12

I live in Montreal and I HAVE skunks in my back alley. Even sprayed one of my dogs once. Fortunately (?) it was in the mouth, so the smell didn’t linger too much. [sub]The foam was something else though.[/sub]

13

Then you’d love the smell of it from 9:00 p.m till about noon the next day.

14

i got some, um, skunk spray on me once. the dog got it in the face and came into the house, snorting and sneezing and shaking her head and getting the stuff everywhere. she came over to me and shook some on my arm. it was yellow and smelled a little like onions, and it burned. ick.

15

I actually LIKE the smell of a skunk from a distance - even before I was introduced to a certain herb that can smell quite similar (when it’s good). I have never been sprayed by a skunk or smelled one up-close, though.

16

wring, I understand completely.

I grew up in New York City. There were no skunks. There were no raccoons, there were no possums, there were no deer. Sure, there were pigeons and roaches, but it was all I knew. I was used to it. I was happy, dammit.

I would have happily gone to my grave having never smelled a skunk.

Now, while I don’t exactly live in the country, I do live in a place that’s significantly more rural than New York City. There was a possum in my yard. A possum! I think I saw a possum once in the Museum of Natural History. There also raccoons, a million squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks and, of course, skunks.

Apparently, skunks are very bad at crossing the street. At least once a week I’ll smell dead skunk on my way to or from work.

During the last hot n’ humid spell we had, a skunk managed to get run over right down my block. The smell, in addition to the humidity and the heat, was almost enough to make me cry. And it lingers! For days! :puke:

I hate skunks.
Rose

17

Skunks have absolutely horrible eyesight, and this surely contributes to their propensity to get whacked on the road. Add me to the list of people who don’t mind the smell as long as it’s not too strong.

Possums, skunks, raccoons…I get a kick out of that variety of wildlife. aw, they’re all cute and furry to Cranky.

18

Weird, but True

I can’t smell skunk. I’ve got a pretty sensitive nose (I can detect spices in food by scent alone), but the couple of times I’ve been near a dead skunk (as evidenced by everyone else in the car gagging and/or holding their noses), I can, if I try really hard, just barely detect a faint, musky, unpleasant odor.

Clearly this is a positive mutation and I shall soon be asked to join either the X-Men or The Legion Of Super-Heroes, who’ll waive the age-requirements for the only man capable of invulnerable to Polecat Pete (<-real Legion cast member!)

Can’t-Smell-Skunks Lad
AKA Fenris

19

Fenris wanna trade noses?
I actually have met wildlife before, really. While living in the city, one morning I was taking some trash out to the trash can out the back, and there, inside was the biggest and ugliest (ok, so they’re all ugly) possum in the universe. I didn’t know I could leap up and back at the same time. I knocked the trash can over with a broom (from inside the house of course) and the damned thing wouldn’t leave had to hit the bottom of the can a couple of times.

The worst wildlife story tho’ came when I’d first moved into this one house. I’m blind as a, well, you know, but when I first wake up in the morning I can’t quite face the world in focus, so I tend to hit the bathroom first. So, there I am in the bathroom, gazing around, and point my eyes towards the wall opposite me. There’s this big brown splotch on the wall. WTF? I think. So, I go to investigate. OF course, w/o my glasses, I had to be about 3 inches away from it before I recognized what it was. Yes, of course it was a bat.

So, now i"ve got this bat in the bathroom (or batroom if you prefer), my toddler son is about to wake up and I"ve got no bloody idea what to do about it. I finally try and hit it w/a broom, unfortunately, that wakes it up and it starts flying around the room, with me whimpering. Son wakes up “mommy, what’s wrong?” um nothing, “I’ve got to go potty” well, there’s a really big bug in here and I"m trying to get it. Finally am able to stun it, cover it with a pail and slide a piece of cardboard underneath, toss it out the window.

That was my first experience w/bats in that house, and frankly, the last time I personally would deal with them. My position on bats now:

Prone, on the floor, whimpering madly, with eyes tightly shut. It’s my job, I do it well.

20

Just how nasty are these possums ?

Can they cause humans serious injuries ?

I had heard of a breed of very large housecat that originated in the US that is capable of deailing with some of these furry things like racoons, and other thingies like wot you Murricans get, does this moggy exist ?

Personally if I met one of these furry thigs like groundhogs and stuff I’d wear by steely boots and give 'em the good old British soccer hooligan arabesque, or is this ‘A Bad Idea’