I Had a Skunk Encounter
Multiple Skunkings, Enjoyed Each One!... Well first off, a bit of a confession. I, like some of the other users posting stories in this group, *really* enjoy the scent of skunk. It's rich and pungent, very musky, and so what if it's also sulfurous? There's far worse stinks out there (rotting flesh, diesel fuel from a dirty engine, rendering plants, the list goes on). Skunk musk even has a potent aphrodisiac effect on me, which is rather nice. ;)
As for my sprayings: My first time getting spritzed was in Feb. 2004 by a skunk that was laying off-road, apparently hit by a car. When I went to investigate it and see if I could help, it squirted me and died from it's wounds a few minutes later. I respectfully put on gloves, removed the skunk from the road and buried it in a field so that no passing cars would smash up the corpse. Naturally when I got home I immediately reeked up the house and my mom and sister hated me for it. Airing out the house was slightly more difficult than removing the scent, which I used white vinegar to do in the shower (my left arm had been drenched at about the bicep level). I'll spare you the details of what I did in the interim ;)
My second time getting squirted was a little more recent, about April 2006 actually. When ordering from the local 24-hour Burger King late at night, I'd sometimes see skunk kits walking up to the drive-thru and the employees fed them random burger buns and stuff. As stupid as that is since it encourages scavenging, their hearts were in the right place. Anyway I asked the drive-thru guys about what time the skunks usually show up, and they said around 1-2 a.m. This made finding one easy when I came back, having brought my best friend (who was an Eagle scout) just in case we had to track the skunks through their own turf. Sure enough, the kitten showed up, ducked under the fence and grabbed a bun. He whiffed too, meaning he sprayed a tiny bit of scent in the air to announce his presence. I waited for him behind the fence and as soon as I saw him I made a mad dash and grabbed for his tail. I think I barely brushed his tail as he ducked under an adjacent fence and gave me a nice thick blast of skunk for my trouble.
The scent exploded in the air, mostly sulfurous and rank (as my buddy said "Eewww smells like onions!!") but after a few minutes of adjusting even he admitted it didn't smell all that bad, and he has a very sensitive nose! I called my other roommates to get permission to come inside, and oddly enough they said yes. Big mistake on their part, since coming inside contaminated the 3-bedroom townhouse and even people upstairs could smell me. That caused a lot of drama, needless to say, but I loved every smelly moment of it :) I stayed skunky overnight, dreamt of skunks squirting me, and woke up to the scent in the morning, then deodorized that afternoon.
Now for my recent sprayings. I have a golf course not far from where I live, about a 5-minute drive or 30-minute walk (and you'd have to walk late at night due to lack of crosswalks and 2 very busy large intersections on the way). On my usual 1-hour walks for exercise I kept thinking it might be fun to walk through that course, since I knew from all the times smelling skunks (and seeing roadkilled ones, sadly) there had to be little stinkers living there. Well, one night I deviated from my usual circular walking route and headed down there on a whim. Sure enough, as I'm walking down a road in the park I see an odd black shape. I turned my phone's flashlight app on and saw it was an adorable skunk kit scooting and stamping, warning me to back off or risk the stink! Undaunted and very excited, I walked after the little guy and got blasted several times before letting him get away, thanking him and talking in low, calm tones so he'd hopefully know I didn't mean to hurt him. I repeated this the next night as well, getting another dousing.
My roommate hates the smell, and complained a lot when I skunked up the house. The kits' spray wasn't nearly as strong as an adult's so it didn't last as long and he didn't notice it nearly as often. Naturally I deodorized with hydrogen peroxide and baking soda since I had those on hand for just such an occasion.
My latest spraying was last Friday, August 19th, 2011. After heading back to the park, I found a kit and gave chase, but the little guy seemed reluctant to spray, only whiffing now and then, or if he was trying to blast me his accuracy was dead off. He eventually got away from me once I'd run out of breath and nearly fainted from all the running. I searched the park further and found what had to be either a teenage or young adult skunk. Jackpot! ;) The adult was reluctant to spray too and very good at dodging my arm going for his tail, so I resorted to throwing my cell phone at the ground and letting it bounce harmlessly near his feet. This startled him into actually spraying me, and I got my shirt badly skunked, my belt got some spray on it and so did my pants (which were the same skunky jeans I wore when the kit sprayed me, making them extra skunky!). This time the sulfurous edge was very intense, and I was very happy with how skunky I was. I let him run off after the one spray since he'd hit my face as well, coming very close to my eyes (which would've blinded me painfully for several minutes if it had hit them). I walked home reeking to high heaven with a goofy smile on my face and my spirits high, smiling at the people driving by that thought a roadkilled skunk was nearby.
I woke my roommate coming home, who couldn't get back to sleep since the house was so skunky. I deodorized with 1 liter hydrogen peroxide mixed with 3/4 cup baking soda and some liquid hand soap to lather. After applying it I waited 5 minutes for it to work then showered vigorously and was smelling good as new. My pants and shirt though were so skunked up I had to put them in storage since they'd stink up anything I put them in and my roommate hates having a skunky house.
As for my sprayings: My first time getting spritzed was in Feb. 2004 by a skunk that was laying off-road, apparently hit by a car. When I went to investigate it and see if I could help, it squirted me and died from it's wounds a few minutes later. I respectfully put on gloves, removed the skunk from the road and buried it in a field so that no passing cars would smash up the corpse. Naturally when I got home I immediately reeked up the house and my mom and sister hated me for it. Airing out the house was slightly more difficult than removing the scent, which I used white vinegar to do in the shower (my left arm had been drenched at about the bicep level). I'll spare you the details of what I did in the interim ;)
My second time getting squirted was a little more recent, about April 2006 actually. When ordering from the local 24-hour Burger King late at night, I'd sometimes see skunk kits walking up to the drive-thru and the employees fed them random burger buns and stuff. As stupid as that is since it encourages scavenging, their hearts were in the right place. Anyway I asked the drive-thru guys about what time the skunks usually show up, and they said around 1-2 a.m. This made finding one easy when I came back, having brought my best friend (who was an Eagle scout) just in case we had to track the skunks through their own turf. Sure enough, the kitten showed up, ducked under the fence and grabbed a bun. He whiffed too, meaning he sprayed a tiny bit of scent in the air to announce his presence. I waited for him behind the fence and as soon as I saw him I made a mad dash and grabbed for his tail. I think I barely brushed his tail as he ducked under an adjacent fence and gave me a nice thick blast of skunk for my trouble.
The scent exploded in the air, mostly sulfurous and rank (as my buddy said "Eewww smells like onions!!") but after a few minutes of adjusting even he admitted it didn't smell all that bad, and he has a very sensitive nose! I called my other roommates to get permission to come inside, and oddly enough they said yes. Big mistake on their part, since coming inside contaminated the 3-bedroom townhouse and even people upstairs could smell me. That caused a lot of drama, needless to say, but I loved every smelly moment of it :) I stayed skunky overnight, dreamt of skunks squirting me, and woke up to the scent in the morning, then deodorized that afternoon.
Now for my recent sprayings. I have a golf course not far from where I live, about a 5-minute drive or 30-minute walk (and you'd have to walk late at night due to lack of crosswalks and 2 very busy large intersections on the way). On my usual 1-hour walks for exercise I kept thinking it might be fun to walk through that course, since I knew from all the times smelling skunks (and seeing roadkilled ones, sadly) there had to be little stinkers living there. Well, one night I deviated from my usual circular walking route and headed down there on a whim. Sure enough, as I'm walking down a road in the park I see an odd black shape. I turned my phone's flashlight app on and saw it was an adorable skunk kit scooting and stamping, warning me to back off or risk the stink! Undaunted and very excited, I walked after the little guy and got blasted several times before letting him get away, thanking him and talking in low, calm tones so he'd hopefully know I didn't mean to hurt him. I repeated this the next night as well, getting another dousing.
My roommate hates the smell, and complained a lot when I skunked up the house. The kits' spray wasn't nearly as strong as an adult's so it didn't last as long and he didn't notice it nearly as often. Naturally I deodorized with hydrogen peroxide and baking soda since I had those on hand for just such an occasion.
My latest spraying was last Friday, August 19th, 2011. After heading back to the park, I found a kit and gave chase, but the little guy seemed reluctant to spray, only whiffing now and then, or if he was trying to blast me his accuracy was dead off. He eventually got away from me once I'd run out of breath and nearly fainted from all the running. I searched the park further and found what had to be either a teenage or young adult skunk. Jackpot! ;) The adult was reluctant to spray too and very good at dodging my arm going for his tail, so I resorted to throwing my cell phone at the ground and letting it bounce harmlessly near his feet. This startled him into actually spraying me, and I got my shirt badly skunked, my belt got some spray on it and so did my pants (which were the same skunky jeans I wore when the kit sprayed me, making them extra skunky!). This time the sulfurous edge was very intense, and I was very happy with how skunky I was. I let him run off after the one spray since he'd hit my face as well, coming very close to my eyes (which would've blinded me painfully for several minutes if it had hit them). I walked home reeking to high heaven with a goofy smile on my face and my spirits high, smiling at the people driving by that thought a roadkilled skunk was nearby.
I woke my roommate coming home, who couldn't get back to sleep since the house was so skunky. I deodorized with 1 liter hydrogen peroxide mixed with 3/4 cup baking soda and some liquid hand soap to lather. After applying it I waited 5 minutes for it to work then showered vigorously and was smelling good as new. My pants and shirt though were so skunked up I had to put them in storage since they'd stink up anything I put them in and my roommate hates having a skunky house.
