Happy July Fourth ..... and Skunk Wars 101

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY

It's that day to celebrate our INDEPENDENCE from oppression and taxation.  Funny that we seem to be right back in the same seat at the moment.  I hope everyone has a great time with family and friends, along with a barbecued hamburger to two!!

Before we go back to the skunks, I forgot to tell you about the EYE TEST at DMV!!  The memorization of the standard eye chart did me no good whatsoever!!  This small department with only three stations has made up their OWN test, printed it out and tacked it to the wall.

A, B and C sheets of paper all have five rows of letters.  The nice gentleman made me read one row with my glasses, ONE ROW COVERING ONE EYE, and one row covering the OTHER eye.  I've NEVER had to do that before.   With my special bionic lenses covered up with my stronger progressive glasses, I almost could NOT see the letters.  I admit, I cheated and didn't put my hand very close to my eye.  It worked, but only because I was maybe ten feet from the chart!

So beware the little shop of horrors known as the DMV.  Even the little ones have their obstacles!!

ON TO SKUNK WARS ......

I went out in the morning with my flashlight, my good running shoes in case I required a fast getaway, and a huge can of wasp spray.  I'm not messing around any more!!

Nothing ..... Although I smelled a skunk, I did not see one, so I let the puppies out while I kept guard, my spray can at the ready.  Once the pups were back in the house, I went to see my concrete handiwork.

Boy was I MAD!!  They just dug right on around the concrete and had been in the yard AGAIN.  Not just once, but at BOTH locations.  It's WAR I tell you!!!

I looked online for some answers.  One said to have the male of your choice pee around the entire area.  Well that's not going to happen!  But it DID give me an idea.  What is DEF fluid make up of?  Urea.  Surprised?  That's why I'm so very careful not to get any on me when I put it in my diesel rig.

I poured some in a spray bottle and sprayed the entire fence line.  No clue if that's going to work, but you never know!!  It's worth a shot.

I wandered around the property trying to figure out what to cover up the holes with.  I came upon my old huge dog kennel made up of many heavy pieces of chain link fence.  My little brain started spinning.  

The only problem was, I had to drag each one clear across the entire corral to get to the fence.  It took some time, but I was determined!!

I have a big steel pipe fence inside the wooden fence that kept the horses from chewing on the wood. I had to dismantle part of it to move it away and make room for the panels.  Here's the first one laid in place.  It's about 8 feet long and 4 feet wide.  They aren't going to be able to dig around THIS!!  Take THAT you dirty skunks!!!

So YESTERDAY morning, after my foray with flashlight and wasp spray to ensure the back yard was skunk free for the pups, I went to check on my handiwork.  You can definitely see where they dug under the fence again and for another 18 inches trying to get under the wire, but had to turn back.  GOTCHA!!!!!   I was feeling pretty smug that they didn't get in!!  A quick survey of the entire fence line found no new holes.

THIS morning, again with the flashlight and spray can I patrolled the back yard ..... nothing!  No sign of skunk city.  I haven't checked the panels yet ... I'll wait until it gets light.  If two don't work, I've got another EIGHT I can haul out there to line the entire fence line if need be.  I'm going to win THIS WAR!!

Bonus ... my neighbors around here usually have lots of fireworks.  That will surely help scare the skunks away.

That's SKUNKS 2 ..... NANCY 1     

Yes, I'm keeping score!!!