February 6, 2015

2-6-15
Skunks like the raccoon frequent urban areas and are omnivores. They eat plants and animals. They will dig up a lawn in search of grubs, eat lizards and rodents if they can get then, snack on nuts and berries and of course pet food. 

Sometimes in the early morning, I can smell the scent of a skunk that had visited the backyard.  

When i was living in Colorado, I knew that a skunk had been visiting the yard in the early morning by the smell that it left behind. Morning I had left the two dogs that I had out the back door and almost immediately the dogs were barking. Before I could go to investigate, I hear yelping. Before I could get out of the back door, I already knew what had happened because I could smell that acid stink of a skunk attack. 

Both of the dogs were sprayed and since it was fall, going into winter, they couldn't stay outside. The smell, however was so strong, it hut the eyes and nose. It was a horrid acrid sulfur type smell. The only thing that I knew about neutralizing a skunk scent was tomato juice. I didn't have tomato juice, but I had couple of large cans of tomatoes. Outside was cold, possibly close to freezing, but I ties up the dogs and bathed them with the tomatoes as best that I could. The Golden Retriever was not too bad, but the other dog, a Wolfhound mix, got it in the face. He was uncomfortable, but washing him with the tomatoes was the best that I could do. The dogs were freezing and my hands ached from the cold, but after leaving the tomatoes on for about 15 minutes, I washed them off. I washed them two more times with regular dog shampoo and brought them into the back porch. It was an enclosed porch, but still cold, although not as cold as outside. I couldn't let them into the house because they still smelled so bad. I called my sister, Fay, who was working with a vet at the time and she said that I should use baking soda and vinegar, and that help a little, but when the stores opened, I got some a skunk odor remover from the feed store.It took off much of the smell, but it lasted for another three months. I did have to blow dry the dogs and let them in the house. It was getting to be 10o below 0o at night.  

Despite the smell, people keep skunks as pets. They are supposed to be very intelligent, curious and will get into things, but their owners love them. The scent glands are removed, however.