I woke up this morning just before total sunrise and noticed my cat Ernie sitting in the window beside me intently watching something outside. If you've lived with a cat long enough you can recognize when they are casually looking out the window or not. So, I, too, looked out the window and saw what Ernie was so interested in. A small animal was walking up the driveway like he owned the place. It was a skunk.
Now I think I know that the wish I expressed in the email i wrote to my daughters 10 days ago didn't come true:
"Dear...............
I opened the front door to call for the cats, Ernie and Rocko, to come in last night and the first thing I notice are two splayed out tails sticking up in the air just to the left of the door like they are looking under the green cabinet that is there and I think, "Oh, they must be after that mouse/rat that I've seen hanging around outside" and I start to talk to them and telling them it's time to come in. They didn't flinch which is no surprise when they are "on" to something. Then I look closer and see that both tails have white on them and think that's strange because only Rocko has white on his tail.
Then I notice that the white is in the middle of both tails - a wide swath of white down the length of the tails and realize.......
SKUNKS!!!!!!
There were two skunks there...........
They had broken into the bag of trash I had set there earlier because it was getting dark and I didn't feel like taking it all the way to the trash cans in the dark.
Just then Rocko came running up and wanted IN fast, before the skunks took note of him. I opened the door for him and called for Ernie but he didn't come. Dad came and started yelling at the skunks and they left.
I repacked the bag they had broken into and put it inside to be taken out this morning because I knew they would come back for more if given half a chance. About a half hour later I called for Ernie and he came right in.
I have a feeling that he was there all along but didn't want to chance the skunks.
I sure hope the skunks were just passing through.........."
So, dear readers, you have a glimpse of my real life. It's not what most people imagine when they hear that I live in Santa Barbara, California. Oh, and about my garbage. There's no garbage man that comes and gets mine. I have to make trips to the dump, myself for that. The only good thing about that is that I pay a lot less for trash disposal. But if you were to include my time and effort, then maybe I'm not getting that good of a deal, after all. (sigh)
1 comment:
I'm so glad they (and you) did not get sprayed! Smart cats. We "dispatched" 14 skunks that first spring I lived in Montana. I've been sprayed so many times that I can barely detect skunk scent.
Oh, and one time I went out into the yard for something, came back a moment later, and there was a baby skunk sitting in my doorway. I had to wait for him to leave on his own, which luckily he did! You're right -- they have such supreme confidence they look as if they own the place.
If your cats do get sprayed or if the skunks spray and get part of your house, you can use sudsing lemon ammonia to wash. Bac-out might work, too. We didn't have it back then but it's actually what I would try first because it's so much more gentle than ammonia.
Fingers crossed that the blighters go find someone else to bother!
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