History, Politics And Current Affairs

So the village Facebook group where my sister lives has been a bit more exciting than usual today. In case of confusion, it should be noted that skunks are not native to Devon...

Many years ago, my wife and I lived in Pullman, a small college town in Eastern Washington. The police were not exactly an elite force. Our house was across the street from a park and next to my wife's uncle's house.

So, come summer and a skunk decided to make the park his domain. The smell was a constant feature at night. Somebody (we never found out who) called the police about 3AM and demanded they do something. Two of Pullman's finest arrived and parked in front of the two houses, surveyed the situation and argued about what to do. Wife's uncle figured heard the discussion and headed for the door, intending to yell a warning. He made outside just as the officer was taking aim with the twelve gauge shotgun. Uncle got as far as "Don't..."

The park was unusable for about three days.

I'm told de-glanded skunks make pleasant pets... (*)

FWIW, when several of my wife's kin took a sabbatical to California, they discovered their rented house lay on the boundary between two skunks' territory. As with rampant tomcats, nights could be dramatic. Incautiously venturing out to the trash-cans could encounter CBW...

Neither hot-wash cycle nor dry cleaning could cleanse tainted clothes, but a preliminary soak in vinegar disabled those noxious amines...
--

*) One of our neighbours' pups needed his blocked anal glands 'clearing' from time to time...
The vet's staff came to dread the procedure, akin to 'popping' gross acne spots, sanitising foul projectile exudate from washroom mirror...
Eventually, when those glands failed to 'resolve' naturally, the vet recommended the now-grown dog have them excised...

...The last time I was at the NMUSAF, the Museum posted a head-up that two skunks had decided that the Memorial Park was home now, and that was that. As far as I know, everybody had the good sense to keep away from them. (I did get a pic for posterity, I'll dig it out when I get home.)

Mike

...The NMUSAF Duty Skunk.
Mike

Nik_SpeakerToCats wrote: ↑Mon Jul 31, 2023 6:56 pm I'm told de-glanded skunks make pleasant pets... (*)

A former coworker had a pet skunk named Omar (deglanded of course). He was actually quite well behaved and apparently they never had problems with bugs on the property--Omar cleaned them up. I even held him for a minute.