Skunked

Had some unwelcome barn yard guests recently. By the distinctive odor in the air we knew we had a skunk hanging out in the vicinity. Over the years the under side of our red shed has come under the occasional occupancy of the polecat kind. But, since living here these past 8 and a half years they have not been permanent fixtures. I have attributed the temporariness of the visitations to our wiley and territorial farm cats. However those first cats have since passed and we are now down to the offspring of just one of those hardy originals and he is just a fat neutered grandfatherly old timer. Lazy and unaffected by strangers in his midst.

Several weeks had gone by and with that skunky smell in the air I was keeping my eyes peeled for any sightings of a black and white striped varmint. From the smell of it there was most certainly one living under the red shed. You could even see a fresh path being beat in the grass from it’s coming and goings during it’s frequent nocturnal excursion’s. A little too close to our poultry for comfort.

More often than not my evening chores don’t get started until after the sun has all but set. So I usually throw on my trusty head mounted flash light and off I go to top off water dishes, feed bowls and to make sure everything is in order for the coming night. Well one night in particular I stepped into the goat shed and got quite a startling surprise. Even though we aren’t doing goats anymore we still call it the goat shed. It used to be home of our resident milk goat. We also had a stanchion set up in it which made a real nice place to do the milking. Now it is a multipurpose shed, housing tools, grain and of course barn cats. By all rights we should start calling it the cat house but, I suppose it would be best not to do that so as not to get any nasty rumors going around about us. I can see the headlines now “Cat House In Sugar Camp”.

Anyway to get back to this one particular night. I was simply doing my usual routine and stepped up into the goat shed only to be greeted by not a feline cat, but an honest to goodness black and white stripped Polecat. I think it was as surprised to see me as I was of it. Since I practically walked right over the thing I just about jumped out of my shoes. I did an immediate about face and went strait back to the house to retrieve my Sheridan air rifle. I’ve been meaning to get a shot gun for times just such as these but, have never gotten around to making the investment. I do have a high powered rifle that I use for deer hunting but wouldn’t even think about blasting away in the darkness with that thing being so close to the house and our domestic animal friends. I’ve had this air rifle since I was a kid and with enough pumps it can be quite lethal. So I quickly pumped it up and loaded it on the fly. Got back to the shed , but this time kept a respectable distance wondering just where exactly that skunk might have gone. Would it still be in the shed or did I scare it out of there? At this point I was sure wishing I had put some fresh batteries in my head light as I was quickly realizing it wasn’t up to it’s normal illuminating capacity. Actually it was quite dim. About that time I was in position to peak into the open shed being ready with an itchy trigger finger.

I could not believe my eyes. The skunk was still there. It was happily eating away with it’s face down in the cats food dish. The unbelievable part was that it was surrounded by cats. Not curious and threatened cats. No these where comfortable cats. I had just wakened them from their slumber and they came out to great me just like business as usual. Obviously the skunk eating out of their food dish was not a new thing. He was just part of the family. Might as well have just been another cat. Our old cats would never have tolerated such a thing. Not this new generation, no they’ll just let in any old stray. So what if he smells bad.

Well, this was my chance. I was a little worried I’d hit one of our cats even though I was quite irritated at them for allowing this unwelcome visitor. But, the skunk didn’t seem too fazed by my presence and kept eating just giving me the occasional glance. So I took aim and was really, really wishing I had some fresh batteries in my light. Sighting it in was pretty much useless so I just literally took a shot in the dark. And missed. Then to my dismay I realized that in my haste I had forgotten to bring more pellets with me. I guess I figured it was an easy shot so why bother. By this point I was pretty bothered. I ran back to the house all the while putting in some more pumps. I got the thing loaded and ran back to the shed. Too late. It made a getaway while I was gone.

So all the next day I plotted my revenge. I was going to be ready if there was going to be a next time. I’ve never really been that good at target shooting but, I have taken some pride in being pretty good at taking out predators when they come near the homestead. It seems, when it really counts my accuracy gets a lot better. Plus I usually say a quick prayer before I pull the trigger.

Night time came and I was ready. Though I still didn’t have new batteries for my head light I did have a high powered flash light that came with my cordless drill. I got the air rifle pumped up and loaded had a pocket full of pellets. And for good measure just so I was sure to have enough light I put on my head mounted flash light. Out into the darkness I went. Armed to the teeth and loaded with determination. My honor was now on the line. I made my way to the shed in an around about way, climbing over a fence to avoid going too close and spooking the beast before I could get a clear shot. Rounding my way past the raised beds I got in line with the entrance to the building. If it was in there this would surely be the night of it’s demise. It would not get away a second time. In eager anticipation I snapped on the flash high powered flash light and pointed it into the shed. Sure enough it had returned. The skunk was again feasting out of the cat dish. And again cats were loitering around totally unfazed. My heart pounded with anticipation. But, I then learned that I hadn’t given any thought at all as to how I was going to hold the light and take aim with the air rifle. I found that I was awkwardly trying to hold the light with my left hand and was sort of holding up the rifle pistol style with my right. It was like something out of a bad dream, I couldn’t hold my aim. It was all over the place. Was my heart pounding too hard? What was I thinking trying to hold the flash light and the gun at the same time. I should have had some help. I needed someone else to hold the light while a took the shot.

After the close call the night before that skunk wasn’t going to dilly dally there enjoying a free meal so it decided to make a hasty retreat. No! I was loosing my chance. I dropped the flash light and just tried to see with the headlight and took another shot in the dark. This time it was a moving target and it just kept on moving. Missed again. Now my ego was really starting to hurt. So in hot pursuit I re-pumped the gun and loaded it on the fly. I was beginning to feel a kinship to our ancestors who hunted and fought with black powder guns, having to go through all that just to pull off another shot. The skunk went between the shed and the old corral getting hemmed in under some junk kind of stashed in between there. I couldn’t see much of anything. I could just hear it fumbling around trying to find a way out. I wondered if it had been wounded or not. Not wanting to add insult to injury by getting sprayed I decided to climb up on the fence so as not to be in range, or so I hoped, if it decided to fire back. A couple times I spotted it’s white stripe in the darkness. All I had to do was just inch a little closer. Scooting along kind of half straddling the fence and all the while trying to aim the gun I was still fooling around with that blasted flashlight.

Little did I know that in my haste I was actually getting myself into kind of an awkward situation, then all of a sudden CRACK, the top fence rail broke in two and I went head over heels over the opposite side of the fence. Really I’m quite sure a miracle took place that night. Because by all rights it could have been my end. There in the dark I landed head and shoulder first right on an old antique push mower that we use around the garden beds. I smacked my ear and the side of my head on a metal support just behind the blades. It’s amazing all that can happen in a split second. One minute your up the next minute your down. I can still relive it all in my head like it was in slow motion. The crack of the fence rail, the plunging into the darkness, flash light flying, pellet gun discharging as it hit the ground and my still being alive after hitting the side of my face and head on a hard piece of metal. When the gravity of the situation came to me as I lay there momentarily assessing the damages or possible damages I was really quite surprised to still be breathing. And I didn’t even shoot myself.

I could feel a little blood as I held my ear, so I went back to the house to have Kelli give me a look over. Amazingly I only had minor cuts. So back out after the skunk. I did find it as it was making it’s way back to the red shed and I did pop off a couple more shots as it went and missed every time. I was still pretty shook up from the fall. But, at this point I was realizing the Lord must have some lesson here for me to learn.

Well, it certainly wounded my pride. That was for sure. I got skunked by the skunk which oddly had a humbling effect on me. I mean I had every confidence that I was going to shoot that thing. There was no doubt in my mind. Yet here I was having to admit that perhaps I hadn’t been giving credit where credit was due in my ability to dispatch the predators which occasionally come too close.

I went on to miss that skunk one more time but, by the third encounter it finally met it’s end. The Lord surely helped me out with that one, plus He kindly gave me the knowledge of how to hold the flash light and gun at the same time and be able to actually take a decent aim.
I was pretty relieved to have that smelly thing dead. But, just to be on the safe side I kept a wary eye out for any buddies he might have had. A few days went by and I decided to go out one evening to see if we were really skunk free. ...............to be continued