Skunk 2.0

It’s back.

We thought we’d dispensed with it three years ago. Remember? No? Read about it here, here, here and here.

Okay, so maybe this skunk is just a distant relative.

Either way, a few day ago this little bugger must have found cousin Pepe’s former apartment, moved in and got right down to the business of stinking the place up.

It’s really horrible to be awakened by a smell. Scents are the things that reach deepest into your most primal, lizard-esque brain cells and touch your very soul, whether for good or ill. This smell is definitely squarely in the “ill” category, as it propelled us both out of bed and into various activities: me going downstairs to fetch the vinegar jug, my wife to opening windows and doors wide to let in the 30-something degree air from outside, which smelled fresh and sweet.

I filled up a spray bottle with vinegar and began saturating the surfaces and air with the tangy, neutralizing elixir. This helped some, but it required regular booster sprays throughout the day. Whatever that polecat was doing, it certainly knew how to smell up the inside of the house without being detectable from the outside.

I called up the same wildlife guy as last time, and he came out and set traps the very next day.

Nothing caught so far, but it’s only a matter of time.

And this time, I am going to put up the wire mesh around the deck to keep that bugger OUT. Between that and a regular application of cayenne pepper spray in the back yard, we shouldn’t have skunk problems any more.

Michael asked me why God made skunks, if they’re so stinky and cause so much trouble. It was difficult for me to provide a good answer: “God needs skunks here for a good reason. Daddy can’t really figure out what that reason is, but God’s a lot smarter than daddy so that’s why He’s in charge.”

I am going to ask Him when I get the opportunity, though.