Skunks In The City
There are skunks in the city. They make their presence known. Generally about three nights a week the musky scent fills my living room and causes me to wrinkle up my nose. On the hot and humid nights it seems like the smell sticks to me, and lingers in the heavy air for days. I wonder where these phantom stinkers are hiding. What do they eat, how do they avoid getting killed by the many pit bulls, rotweilers, cars, fire trucks, and other dangers that live in the city with them.
My husband and I have taken to calling them stunks. It has become a game, when the first whiffs of pew find their way into our lives we yell "STUNK!" the other person is then required to concur. As I seem to be the more olfactorily sensitive person in our duo my husband will confirm, "Yup, I smell him too". We then spend several minutes talking astonishedly about how many skunks we have seen or smelled in the last few days. This is a ritual that never changes or gets boring.
My dog seeks them out. As I let my dog outside to relieve himself, I see him notice the evidence of skunk life in our postage stamp of a yard, and he leads me through the brush in the alley way. His face is filled with a simultaneous look of excitement and of repulsion. Once he actually found a skunk in the bushes. He was doing his usual sniffing and searching when he froze suddenly. He found what he had so long sought, but faced with his quarry he was not sure what to do. He started to bark and back up, when I noticed the signature black and white tail pop up out of the weeds I yanked on that leash like I was pulling him out of the depths of eternal damnation, I did NOT want to spend my evening destenching my thick haired dog. I have managed to save my dog from the horrors of skunk musk 3 more times since then. It is something I remember to thank God for in my evening prayers.
I often think about the home remedies I have heard for skunk odor removal and find myself wondering if they actually work. I have heard that bathing in tomato juice helps. Just how much tomato juice would one need to take an actual tomato juice bath? That would be one expensive bath! Would it have to be pure tomato juice, would v8 work, or does the carrot juice and added vitamins counteract the tomatoes in some way? Could you water down the tomato juice without too much reduction in effectiveness, and how much could you water it down, say 2 parts water to one part juice. It also seems that if there were any open cuts or scratches on your body that you didn't know about, the salty wash would soon bring them to your immediate attention. The only way I can see to answer these questions is to try it, and what if it doesn't work, just think about all that wasted tomato juice! It is thought lines like these that make me yank my dog like I am a mountain climbing guide saving my student from falling into the abyss.
I have a friend who is deathly afraid of skunks. After I told her about the skunk encounters that I had recently had, she was apprehensive about coming to my house for a visit, and has since stopped coming at all. I tried to explain to her that the skunks rarely show themselves and have never sprayed anyone to my knowledge, although they are clearly spraying something. This did not seem to help.
I spent the first 17 years of my life in the country. Our closest neighbors were a 1/4mile away. We saw many deer, birds, squirrels, bunnies, opossums, snakes, mice, but I had never ever seen a skunk that wasn’t road kill until I had moved into the city. I find myself wondering what has attracted these skunks to the city. Is it the abundance of available garbage, possibly the cultural events or the city nightlife? Whatever it is, the skunks just keep on coming and stinking as they go.
As I sit and listen to the city around me, on a muggy summer evening, I often ask myself what has brought ME to this city? It certainly has its dangers and drawbacks, the heavy traffic, the loud car stereos, the fire station two blocks away. Whenever my car gets broken into, or someone breaks a bottle of rum on my sidewalk, I find myself longing to return to the country life, the quiet hours of silence that are interrupted only by the rhythmic crickets’ song. I yearn for long walks in the forest, and the quiet breeze in the trees. While I am lost in thought, I am suddenly brought back to reality by the increasing intensity of the unmistakable stunk stink. I crinkle my nose, and close my eyes and remember all the years I longed for city life. I think I will take a lesson from the skunk and learn to adapt to my surroundings. I will make my mark on this city. Whatever the future brings I will always try to appreciate the moment I am in. This city, while it has many things wrong with it, also has a lot to offer not only the skunk, but to me. I think I will take a walk to my favorite coffee shop, and enjoy the summer breeze stink and all.
My husband and I have taken to calling them stunks. It has become a game, when the first whiffs of pew find their way into our lives we yell "STUNK!" the other person is then required to concur. As I seem to be the more olfactorily sensitive person in our duo my husband will confirm, "Yup, I smell him too". We then spend several minutes talking astonishedly about how many skunks we have seen or smelled in the last few days. This is a ritual that never changes or gets boring.
My dog seeks them out. As I let my dog outside to relieve himself, I see him notice the evidence of skunk life in our postage stamp of a yard, and he leads me through the brush in the alley way. His face is filled with a simultaneous look of excitement and of repulsion. Once he actually found a skunk in the bushes. He was doing his usual sniffing and searching when he froze suddenly. He found what he had so long sought, but faced with his quarry he was not sure what to do. He started to bark and back up, when I noticed the signature black and white tail pop up out of the weeds I yanked on that leash like I was pulling him out of the depths of eternal damnation, I did NOT want to spend my evening destenching my thick haired dog. I have managed to save my dog from the horrors of skunk musk 3 more times since then. It is something I remember to thank God for in my evening prayers.
I often think about the home remedies I have heard for skunk odor removal and find myself wondering if they actually work. I have heard that bathing in tomato juice helps. Just how much tomato juice would one need to take an actual tomato juice bath? That would be one expensive bath! Would it have to be pure tomato juice, would v8 work, or does the carrot juice and added vitamins counteract the tomatoes in some way? Could you water down the tomato juice without too much reduction in effectiveness, and how much could you water it down, say 2 parts water to one part juice. It also seems that if there were any open cuts or scratches on your body that you didn't know about, the salty wash would soon bring them to your immediate attention. The only way I can see to answer these questions is to try it, and what if it doesn't work, just think about all that wasted tomato juice! It is thought lines like these that make me yank my dog like I am a mountain climbing guide saving my student from falling into the abyss.
I have a friend who is deathly afraid of skunks. After I told her about the skunk encounters that I had recently had, she was apprehensive about coming to my house for a visit, and has since stopped coming at all. I tried to explain to her that the skunks rarely show themselves and have never sprayed anyone to my knowledge, although they are clearly spraying something. This did not seem to help.
I spent the first 17 years of my life in the country. Our closest neighbors were a 1/4mile away. We saw many deer, birds, squirrels, bunnies, opossums, snakes, mice, but I had never ever seen a skunk that wasn’t road kill until I had moved into the city. I find myself wondering what has attracted these skunks to the city. Is it the abundance of available garbage, possibly the cultural events or the city nightlife? Whatever it is, the skunks just keep on coming and stinking as they go.
As I sit and listen to the city around me, on a muggy summer evening, I often ask myself what has brought ME to this city? It certainly has its dangers and drawbacks, the heavy traffic, the loud car stereos, the fire station two blocks away. Whenever my car gets broken into, or someone breaks a bottle of rum on my sidewalk, I find myself longing to return to the country life, the quiet hours of silence that are interrupted only by the rhythmic crickets’ song. I yearn for long walks in the forest, and the quiet breeze in the trees. While I am lost in thought, I am suddenly brought back to reality by the increasing intensity of the unmistakable stunk stink. I crinkle my nose, and close my eyes and remember all the years I longed for city life. I think I will take a lesson from the skunk and learn to adapt to my surroundings. I will make my mark on this city. Whatever the future brings I will always try to appreciate the moment I am in. This city, while it has many things wrong with it, also has a lot to offer not only the skunk, but to me. I think I will take a walk to my favorite coffee shop, and enjoy the summer breeze stink and all.
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