I Am A Skunkseeker
I hit the lake around 2:30 a.m. last night, rather late I realize but I'd been putting it off ever since winning the coin toss, because my last several visits since March's spraying, when I get all dressed up in skunkseeking gear and drive out to the lake, walk around for hours, etc. I never got sprayed, and usually never even saw a single skunk when investigating at all. As a compromise, when I decided to finally go I didn't go through the trouble of unpacking my chasing gear this time (something that can take several minutes since it's all in a garbage bag-sealed plastic trunk in the shed outside), I simply put on my pajama pants and an old useless T-shirt I wouldn't mind losing, and went out to the car with Penelope the Skunk Plush, a flashlight, my skunkseeking gloves and a towel for Penelope to sit on and spare the car seats.
Because my car's alternator is going out, I knew battery life was precious, and headlights would drain it, so I parked as soon as I could. I wandered on foot clear from the farthest east point of Lake Hefner road that I could park (a parking lot on Portland Ave. as I recall) all the way to the golf course and behind the park patrol station, turned around and headed back. This had to have taken me well over an hour (it is, after all, a lot of walking). I'd basically given up when I got to a pipe and noticed quick fluffy black-and-white shapes moving around. Investigating at once I realized I'd literally stumbled upon 2 or more striped skunk kits! They were adorable, couldn't have been more than 1-2 months old (since most skunks are born around May, and these kits were truly tiny). They had the full fur and bold stripes, but no mother around anywhere, which leads me to believe either their mom was killed by motorists or they might be slightly older than they looked and she might've weaned them off (I rather hope the latter, because young kits without moms are unlikely to survive).
Trying to remain gentle and calm with them, I kept walking forward when one of the kits started stamping and scooting, giving me those adorable warning displays (the other had already ducked into a nearby drainage pipe and wasn't coming out). I even put Penelope down and stamped back like I was trying to play with the kit. She didn't really want to play, and kept pointing her stinkers at me, misting my pajama pants as well as my right hand when I'd reached Penelope out to her. I made sure she'd sprayed Penelope multiple times then thanked her and walked off, feeling rather guilty about scaring such a young skunk like that. I walked all the way back to my car and headed straight home, victorious. I got back at around 5 a.m. though, so my theory about the lake being over an hour to walk around was clearly correct (just imagine if I'd circled the whole lake, this was just the golf course and model rocket field areas!)
The scent is majestic of course, very musky-floral and sweet, which is why I suspect that was a female kit. It's on my right ring finger only, and upon inspection I smelled some droplets on the pajama pants as well on the right knee area. Unfortunately, despite having today off, I do have errands to run and don't want to be thrown out of the plasma center for stinking up the joint, so I'll sadly have to deodorize before I leave the house today. Until then I can lay back, sniff Penelope and enjoy my wonderful pungent new aroma. ^!^
Because my car's alternator is going out, I knew battery life was precious, and headlights would drain it, so I parked as soon as I could. I wandered on foot clear from the farthest east point of Lake Hefner road that I could park (a parking lot on Portland Ave. as I recall) all the way to the golf course and behind the park patrol station, turned around and headed back. This had to have taken me well over an hour (it is, after all, a lot of walking). I'd basically given up when I got to a pipe and noticed quick fluffy black-and-white shapes moving around. Investigating at once I realized I'd literally stumbled upon 2 or more striped skunk kits! They were adorable, couldn't have been more than 1-2 months old (since most skunks are born around May, and these kits were truly tiny). They had the full fur and bold stripes, but no mother around anywhere, which leads me to believe either their mom was killed by motorists or they might be slightly older than they looked and she might've weaned them off (I rather hope the latter, because young kits without moms are unlikely to survive).
Trying to remain gentle and calm with them, I kept walking forward when one of the kits started stamping and scooting, giving me those adorable warning displays (the other had already ducked into a nearby drainage pipe and wasn't coming out). I even put Penelope down and stamped back like I was trying to play with the kit. She didn't really want to play, and kept pointing her stinkers at me, misting my pajama pants as well as my right hand when I'd reached Penelope out to her. I made sure she'd sprayed Penelope multiple times then thanked her and walked off, feeling rather guilty about scaring such a young skunk like that. I walked all the way back to my car and headed straight home, victorious. I got back at around 5 a.m. though, so my theory about the lake being over an hour to walk around was clearly correct (just imagine if I'd circled the whole lake, this was just the golf course and model rocket field areas!)
The scent is majestic of course, very musky-floral and sweet, which is why I suspect that was a female kit. It's on my right ring finger only, and upon inspection I smelled some droplets on the pajama pants as well on the right knee area. Unfortunately, despite having today off, I do have errands to run and don't want to be thrown out of the plasma center for stinking up the joint, so I'll sadly have to deodorize before I leave the house today. Until then I can lay back, sniff Penelope and enjoy my wonderful pungent new aroma. ^!^
