I Had a Skunk Encounter
A Long But Satisfying Skunk-seeking Tonight.... I'd been psyching myself up a lot for the trip to the lake tonight, knowing I have 2 days in a row off for work just in case the odor should cling slightly. When I finally drove out there however and looked around, it took a very long while to even run across any skunks; unfortunately for me the few I did find usually found EXCELLENT hiding places that a skunk can scale and climb into but a human can't without risking injuring himself, like large jagged rocks by the lake, or a heavily tree and foliage-covered area with sudden drops to a creek that you can't see until you're about to fall.
After searching for hours, I figured I'd simply wait in a place I knew they lived in and let them come to me. I heard some kits screeching loudly behind some bushes, and shortly afterward a skunk poked out of the woods, probably a mom going off to look for food for her kits. I gave chase multiple times all around the treeline, but she kept simply misting my pant legs and then ducking back into the creek area where I dare not follow or risk breaking my leg or worse. I did manage to flush her out into the open one final time and briefly gripped her tail only to fall mid-way, receiving a nice musky blast in the face and right arm, but quite a few bruises and friction burns from falling on rough grass. She didn't seem hurt, luckily, and squeezed into a storm drain only an inch or so wider than my arm, likely taking advantage of my confused state to high-tail it back into the woods while I was distracted looking around for her.
I didn't have to time to slip on the goggles so my eyes were sprinkled and burned for a few minutes, but no blindness. The smell was of course as majestically potent as ever. I tend to notice the sulfur and gasoline scents the most on a fresh spray, they really stand out, with the strong garlic and burnt rubber parts of skunk mixing into the background. While I'd prefer I get good and saturated as usual, I'll happily settle for what I managed to get tonight.
I drove home in a very nice, calm, relaxed state, that potent aroma keeping me company all the while. I relished in the "aura" I'd been given, knowing no one would come near me except a fellow skunk-sniffer, quite an enticing feeling. Naturally when I got home I zipped up my skunked clothing in the Space Bags, and then promptly mixed the hydrogen peroxide and baking soda to deodorize. Assessing the situation I think my precautions paid off. My cell phone doesn't seem to be hit (I wouldn't have had it on me at all but I lost my flashlight back in April and thus needed it for a makeshift light) but the phone holster is strongly skunky, presumably from absorbing background skunkiness, in which case it SHOULD fade in a few days. I wore my backup watch which is skunky enough that I declared it sprayed just in case and put it with the rest of my skunky clothes as a souvenir.
I think I'll take a hiatus from the lake until the kits grow up enough to start training with their mom, that way I won't have to do any more awkward chases to get doused.
After searching for hours, I figured I'd simply wait in a place I knew they lived in and let them come to me. I heard some kits screeching loudly behind some bushes, and shortly afterward a skunk poked out of the woods, probably a mom going off to look for food for her kits. I gave chase multiple times all around the treeline, but she kept simply misting my pant legs and then ducking back into the creek area where I dare not follow or risk breaking my leg or worse. I did manage to flush her out into the open one final time and briefly gripped her tail only to fall mid-way, receiving a nice musky blast in the face and right arm, but quite a few bruises and friction burns from falling on rough grass. She didn't seem hurt, luckily, and squeezed into a storm drain only an inch or so wider than my arm, likely taking advantage of my confused state to high-tail it back into the woods while I was distracted looking around for her.
I didn't have to time to slip on the goggles so my eyes were sprinkled and burned for a few minutes, but no blindness. The smell was of course as majestically potent as ever. I tend to notice the sulfur and gasoline scents the most on a fresh spray, they really stand out, with the strong garlic and burnt rubber parts of skunk mixing into the background. While I'd prefer I get good and saturated as usual, I'll happily settle for what I managed to get tonight.
I drove home in a very nice, calm, relaxed state, that potent aroma keeping me company all the while. I relished in the "aura" I'd been given, knowing no one would come near me except a fellow skunk-sniffer, quite an enticing feeling. Naturally when I got home I zipped up my skunked clothing in the Space Bags, and then promptly mixed the hydrogen peroxide and baking soda to deodorize. Assessing the situation I think my precautions paid off. My cell phone doesn't seem to be hit (I wouldn't have had it on me at all but I lost my flashlight back in April and thus needed it for a makeshift light) but the phone holster is strongly skunky, presumably from absorbing background skunkiness, in which case it SHOULD fade in a few days. I wore my backup watch which is skunky enough that I declared it sprayed just in case and put it with the rest of my skunky clothes as a souvenir.
I think I'll take a hiatus from the lake until the kits grow up enough to start training with their mom, that way I won't have to do any more awkward chases to get doused.
