Thursday, May 29, 2008

A Stinky Surprise


When I was in my teens we had a Scottish terrier named Molly. Being a typical terrier, Molly liked to case small creatures. Her favorite, skunks. I don’t know if she was just dumb or actually liked the fragrance but being sprayed was a frequent occurrence for her. I think the local skunk family used to lay in wait whenever they were bored.

In case you ever need to know, brand name tomato juice works best for removing the smell. Much better than generic brands. Vinegar and water douche also works well.

Once, a few days after Molly had a run in, I was lounging at my boyfriend’s house when my mother called. She had heard rustling under the sink and, thinking it was a mouse, when to investigate. (Mice weren’t unusual guests in the old farmhouse where I grew up.) But what did she find when she opened the cabinet? Not a mouse, that’s for sure. Yep, you guessed it, a baby skunk.

Apparently it had gotten confused when running from the dog and had fallen into the basement through the cat door that was in the window. Again, it was an old stone house so the skunk was able to follow the pipes up through the wall and end up under the kitchen sink.

When I stopped laughing enough to question my mom the first thing I wanted to know was what she did when she saw it. Slammed the door shut. Had it sprayed her? No. What did she expect me to do about it? Help get rid of it. Um, no. Skunk removal was not my thing and I wasn’t about to get into it. I spent the night at the boyfriend’s as I’m sure you guessed.

After much debate it was decided the best thing would be to call the game commission. They instructed her to set up a path from the sink to the outside door so the skunk had a straight shot to escape. Put it in place and then close off the kitchen, the skunk would make its way out after it got dark. Sounds good, right? Only one flaw in this plan. It was a baby skunk who didn’t know it was supposed to wait until dark. Soon as the cabinet door was open, out it came. Fortunately, the she had already opened the outside door. Unfortunately, Molly was still out and it ran right into her. This time however, after spraying her, it ran the right direction and went off I’m sure to tell its siblings of its great success in getting the silly dog twice in one week and its big adventure inside the house.

Stanley Cup update - My Penguins won last night, 3-2! Sorry Dakota but you have to agree it was a much better game to watch with the Pens playing as they are capable of.

5 comments:

Molly Daniels said...

For the record, I have never been sprayed by a skunk, nor do I ever plan to have a close encounter with one:)

Yay Penguins! Is it a best of 7 series? How many games are left?

barbara huffert said...

Yes, best of 7. Red Wings are up 2-1.

Molly Daniels said...

You're the fourth person I know who had a dog with my name:)

Sandra Cox said...

Too funny! Thanks for sharing:)

Unknown said...

We don't have skunks...we have every other weird arsed animal...

Go penguin people/men who chase a ball or a puck...or something...