Our home is situated in a planned unit development consisting of 14 homes. People who live nearby tell us that before the land was developed, this section consisted of brush, rock and skunks. The skunks often wandered off to visit and explore nearby locations, and these nocturnal animals treated what was then vacant land as kind of a condominium complex and considered it their homes.
It is unlikely that the skunks required relocation when the builders began working. More likely these black-and-white striped mammals didn’t want to deal with backhoes and bulldozers so they self-relocated.
The heavy equipment is now several years removed. Apparently longing for the more simple days of the past, the skunks have occasionally stopped back for a visit. At least two dozen have wandered through our backyard. Half of them will never do it again. We are making every effort to encourage the other half to stay away on threat of their lives. The dozen that won’t repeat the trip have been dispatched by our pair of Jack Russell terriers.
Originally bred for fox hunting, terriers are also excellent at cleansing an area of rodents. They’ve been brought aboard ships and released in the holds to search out and dispose of rats. There is, it seems, no amount of dissuasion that will keeps rats off ships, and it appears there is no amount of dissuasion that will keep skunks out of our backyard.
We are also unable to keep the dogs from making sport when a skunk makes the mistake of dropping in. As a result, we have a skunk alert process in place.
Because skunks aren’t inclined to visit during daylight hours, skunk alerts are evening affairs. The dogs, Milla and Lexi, both females, can’t go outside at night until we have reconnoitered. That involves not just looking but sniffing, clapping, occasionally spraying water into dark corners of our yard, and occasionally hollering in frustration.
We’ve taken other precautions, as well. We’ve got hardware wire stapled to the bottom of the perimeter fence and stones and rocks piled on top of the wire to keep it down. We sprinkle some kind of biodegradable mix around the edge of the yard. This is allegedly unpleasant smelling to the skunks, something of an irony, actually.
Our efforts at keeping our dogs free of eau de skunk have been futile. The rascals keep coming, and the dogs keep defending. Because of our dogs' many encounters with skunks, we’ve experimented with various home remedies to help our pets attain an acceptable level of stink. There isn’t one. Turns out you just have to do the best you can and let nature take its course. Usually that is two to three weeks, sometimes longer.
Failing to keep our dogs free of the fragrance of skunk lately has been due to the perseverance of bad luck. Generally we take the dogs to a groomer three to four times a year. We trust groomers to do a good job, despite Sen. Juan Vargas' belief that pet owners need his protection through groomer licensing. Happily, that bill has died along with those dozen skunks.
The bad luck is associated with timing. Last spring we scheduled a groomer to come restore the dogs to a semblance of neatness. Four days before the groomer arrived, the dogs tackled skunk No. 12. People who have experienced a “skunked” dog know that the best of baths just takes the edge off the fragrance. It also took the smile off the groomer’s face. We told her, of course, when she arrived but that didn’t make it a pleasant experience for her. Nor did it make it much better that we had bathed them and immersed them in our latest concoction as we tried to erase the smell before she drove up. It was down, but not forgotten.
Last week we called another groomer because we weren’t welcome customers for the last one. This second grooming was finished about 3 in the afternoon. By 10:30 we had a skunk alert. Alla, who does most of the cleanup, didn’t think it was as funny as I did. Neither did the skunk that sprayed and left. Maybe that’s the new approach for these former residents. Maybe they are getting even for having lost their homes.
Hawkins is retired after 35 years as a construction industry association manager. He was a broadcast reporter and news anchor in Denver. As a Navy officer, he saw action in Vietnam in the River Assault Squadrons and is the recipient of a Silver Star and Purple Heart. He can be reached at george.hawkins@sddt.com.
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