Unpleasant company

[Burkhardt]

My shop is a two-car garage full of tools and materials including the CNC, lathe, table and band saw, sanders, cabinets etc. Oh yes there is a washer and dryer somewhere. Most of the practical assembly and paint work has to be done in the driveway.

Now, this is Southern California and not a temperature problem most of the time. But tonight I had another close encounter of the smelly kind when two full size skunks walked by casually not more than 5 feet away. I tried my best skunk whisperer routine and they finally recognized there is some human around. So they retreated slowly under my trailer without showering me with their attention. But I got a bit scared and stopped working outside for the day.

A few years ago I made the mistake shooting a skunk in the driveway (pellet gun) and I am not going to do that again.

Oh well. I can still sleep in my bed tonight but wanted to mention it for entertainment. I really want a proper shop, though....

[scottp55]

Funny G.
But Rabies isn't, and I read that rabies in CA is just as endemic as in Maine;
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74118.html
Are you in one of the cities/counties that traps them for free?
you oughta try shutting the garage door and finding out you'd trapped a baby racoon inside....with the Mother scratching and chewing the house trying to get in:)
By the time I heard the mother...the baby had scurried into the shop and then the house...no WAY I was going to open the door to let the little guy out with the mother in that mood.
Wasn't until the next morning I got the baby into the garage again with a trail of cat food and could open JUST the garage door.
Yup, Dead skunks aren't much fun either:)
scott

[cowboy1296]

funny. In the south courage goes out the window when you find out that cock roaches have wings.

[chiloquinruss]

Skunks, raccoons, and porcupines are a nuisance, BUT locking up your trash cans so the BEARS don't get into them is another kind of NUISANCE! Not much of an issue with the icy snow on the ground but come spring!

Yeah I think shooting a skunk in your driveway was probably not a good idea! LOL. Russ

[myxpykalix]

Funny you mention unpleasant company....although i like my company, In this pic I have two foxes that live in my backyard under my shed. The one on the left has been there for a few years, but he must have brought his girlfriend along because yesterday is the first time i've seen both of them sunning. I wonder how long before we see a litter of little foxes?

That door that they are laying in front of is my shop door. Sometimes they sun toward the end of the building and if i go out slowly they just watch me while i go in. If he is by the door he goes under the building. I don't bother them, don't feed them, and they don't bother me.

[myxpykalix]

funny. In the south courage goes out the window when you find out that cock roaches have wings.

I lived in Texas and i've been known to scream like a little girl when one flies by or worse lands on you!!!!

[coryatjohn]

I had a very close encounter with a skunk when I lived in Connecticut. We fed our cats outside during the summer and one night, the cats were eating when a skunk came ambling up. One of the cats, the biggest, most aggressive one, attacked the skunk, or tried. That thing whipped around so fast and gave a major squirt into the cat's fact, me and the entire side of my house. Needless to say, it was a total mess. The only good thing was that after an hour, I couldn't smell anything so I didn't mind too much. The cat stank for at least a week (stayed outside) and after using about 50 different treatments on the house, it finally came clean. The next time the skunk came to snack on the cat food, the cats just moved over and let him eat.

[joe]

To me,Cowboy has the proper view.

I've had a couple of skunk visitors in my pantry with no incident. Those little fellow will spray when threatened but other than that there kind of nice. One evening last year I went to my pantry, where my cats are fed, and low and behold a skunk was helping himself. That scared the heck out of me and I quickly retreated to the house. An hour later he was gone. A few weeks later, once again he was back but I didn't realize his presence. I messed around looking for the pasta in a casual way. When I turned around he was looking me strait in the eye. Slowly I retreated with no incident. Since then I've gone a little soft on these guys but you got to give them their space.

To me they're kind of neat looking. O, by the way, as a child I was a trapper. Selling hides at the feed and seed store. The pelts were Racoon, Rabbits, a Fox every now and then but every once in a while a skunk was snared. You can't pelt out a skunk but I've been sprayed several times and it makes you stomach sick and you stink for a while. No problem for a Daniel Boon type kid. Now, I don't mind a little hint skunk perfume.

[Burkhardt]

Well I better get used to them and I would agree that they are kind of cute to look at. It is the second time they got that close but they apparently know they have nothing to fear. Maybe I install a trip wire as early warning system. There is probably no way to get rid of them. This is dense suburban area with large (for California) yards and parks while the flood channels make for a perfect wildlife freeway system. The skunks are everywhere as are the raccoons, possums and lately also more and more coyotes snacking on the cats and small dogs in the neighborhood. Fortunately the bears and cougars don't stray that far from the mountains.

[myxpykalix]

you have nothing to fear from a skunk when he is facing you....it's when he turns around you should RUN!!!
I'm in the middle of the city and i've had squirrels, possums, groundhogs, raccoons and these foxes show up in my yard. Once we had a small bear show up down the street.