Aunts, Uncles and Skunks!! OH MY!!!!

Nothing brings out the bad words in my vocabulary more than these guys.  I guess they're cute if they are a stuffed toy Cooper can drag around the living room floor.  Having them in your back yard every year is a big pain in the you-know-what.

I'm sure you remember big Momma from two years ago.  She's the reason I soon became known as the Skunk Whisperer.  She brought her entire family to the party, digging so many holes in my corral that to this day you cannot walk without taking a chance of breaking your ankle.  I kid you not ... it became a real hazard.

In an effort to stop them, I have spent over $1500 spraying the corrals for weeds and grubs.  I laid chain link fence panels along the entire fence, adding in every piece of pallet and wood I could find.  It didn't matter.  They were relentless.

After I caught and relocated Big Momma, all her aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews started coming around.  I became very adept at my latest occupation, Skunk Trapper.  

It's a very heart pounding operation.  Believe me, they are not the least bit happy to be in a cage.  You have to lay a big piece of plastic in the bed of your truck, followed by a large blanket or sleeping bag.  Then you heft the cage into the truck ... it's harder than you think ... without making any fast movements or noise that will cause them to spray.

Cover up the cage with the rest of the sleeping bag and drive VERY CAREFULLY to your destination. Big bumps will result in big sprays.  Now comes the good part.  Once you get it OUT of the truck you have to lean over the cage and with one hand hold the latch open while you lift the door with the other hand and then flip the lock so the door STAYS open.  

My heat was POUNDING every single time!!  Then you run like crazy!!!  No worries really since they aren't going to come out of the cage until it's dark outside, but that doesn't mean they won't try to spray you!!

 I'm really not looking forward to doing this again.  I found the entry point and placed a grate there.  Then I drug several chain link fence sections back over to the fence.

They tried to dig in here, even pushed that piece of concrete out of the way, but were not interested in digging the additional four feet to get out from under the panel.  Gosh I DISLIKE these guys.

Here's the worst part yet.  This is the second time a skunk family member has showed up on my camera this week.  I thought for sure he was locked out, but looky here!  That little bugger has returned yet again.  

I walked the entire fence and cannot find ONE SINGLE HOLE where he entered.  How could that be?  He did return to the original hole in the picture above and dig out all the dirt on THIS side of the fence, trying to get through the grate to get OUT.  However, he did not succeed.

SO HOW THE HECK DID HE GET IN AND OUT?  I know for sure they cannot climb that fence.  That's when I had the terrible thought ... maybe he was LIVING in my back yard!!!  I grabbed the pitchfork and stabbed every shrub and bush like I was a peasant at Bingo.  Nothing.  No skunk.

I have the video, so I'm not imaging things ... I'm just at a loss to figure this one out.  I guess I'll put on my Sherlock Holmes hat and get to work.  BIG SIGH!!