Enter The Skunk

It took me a while to put together the clues. Jasper was barking in the back yard at 12:30 a.m. Not that surprising. Jasper then came in and burrowed himself into a throw rug. Odd conduct there. 

Suddenly the house reeked of skunk. Overpowering! The skunk must have released its scent really close by too - various burnt overtones were present in different rooms of the house. I was so alarmed by the odor that I checked the house for smoldering plastic. 

Satisfied there was no immediate fire danger, I went downstairs into the basement and checked on two rather hi-tech mouse traps I have there. It would be really terrible if I caught a skunk instead. But the traps were unmolested. The only creature I’ve successfully caught with them so far is me (my fingertip). 

I went into the back yard and got Jasper ready for his nightly walk. I heard the thud of an animal. Could it be? Yes, a skunk was in the back yard, hiding behind a bush just 15 feet away, making noise and otherwise trying to be as scary as possible. Scared, we left the yard for our walk. I left the yard’s gate open, to facilitate the skunk’s departure, should it choose to depart. 

Only then did I stoop to smell Jasper. Sure enough, the skunk had got him, probably earlier in the yard. I guess the skunk came to Jasper rather than the usual opposite. We took an abbreviated walk and returned home. 

To Jasper’s great surprise, at 1:30 a.m., I gave him a bath, using dog shampoo on him, plus non-chlorine bleach usually used for clothes. The hydrogen peroxide in the bleach is really good for eliminating skunk odor. 

At 2 a.m., after toweling off Jasper, I went out and locked the back yard gate. The skunk had apparently departed. Safe once more! I need to start using my lapsed methods to keep skunks out of the yard.