Muska Muska

I have reached a new depth of understanding regarding skunk kind.

Our resident skunk, who has lived beneathe our shed, and pilfered our unsecured garbage for the last three years is no more. He was struck down untimely by a speeding motorist in front of our house tonite. We arrived home late to find his body lying in the road.

I got a shovel, dug a hole in the woods across the road, and scooped up the carcasse. As I deposited the remains in the small grave, I was afflicted by the true and unmediated smell of skunk musk. Wow! It is remarkably different from the slighty acid scent you get from a distance. This was a thick, oily smell, like the most powerful garlic only intensified manyfold. I smelled clingy and choking and stronger than I had ever experienced it. I now have a much better understanding of how truly awful it must be to be sprayed by a skunk. My respect for them has increased, and my sympathy for his victims.

We are a bit sorry to see him go. He was generally a good neighbor, as skunks go I suppose. He did his skunky thing, and we did our thing and we got along nicely. We feel some anger toward the reckless driver that needlessly mowed him down, nevertheless his departure does solve a problem. We plan to acquire a dog soon, and were not sure how to deal with the meeting that was sure to take place between new dog and old skunk. Now that problem is solved.

Foxy

So, there I was Sunday morning, standing at the kitchen sink, washing some dishes. Out at the edge of my vision I pick up some motion outside, at the edge of the tall grass. I look out and sure enough, there is a fox, rusty gray with black legs, trotting purposefully across my property. I called over the elder offspring, and we observed the sly canid crossing the dirt road and heading into the woods on the other side.

Personally, I wish he would hang around my shed more. He would have free access to the rather substantial rodent community that has taken up the habit of pooping little mousey poops all over my tools and lawn chairs. I have found that mouse traps seem to simply encourage them to make more, like they think they are living Doritos – “crunch all you want…we’ll just make more.”

A good fox is hard to find.

Aminals

So, the wildlife census this week includes a wild tom turkey, a fox, a HUGE spider web (an orb almost 3 feet across) and a loon.

My kids and wife observed the fox over the space of about an hour, napping in the tall grass behind our house, and wandering through the woods nearby looking for a little mousy snack. Seemed like odd behavior for a fox as they are usually so cagey and hard to spot.

The loon we saw today while swimming at the lake. Them are big birds. They apparently nest in the weeds and swampy area to the west of the beach. Beautiful beautiful birds.

I love living in a place where we are surrounded by lots of friends. I love it even more that my kids get to see them. We are not alone.