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Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Skunk under the hen house!


Photo: Baby striped skunksYesterday sometime between noon and 3 o'clock a skunk moved in!  DD came over and wanted to see the chicks.  We noticed the familiar odor as we entered the hen house.  While we were talking to and about the little birds we could hear the dog asking to join us and then it got quiet for no apparent reason.  Knowing that our min-pin is not a dog to back down from a skunk fight, I feared the worst.  My fears were confirmed as we exited the hen house.  Penny had been sprayed directly in the face.  She was rolling in the dirt trying to get rid of that oily stink.  DD got on the internet to find some ideas to get rid of the smell on the dog and to possibly get the skunk out from under the hen house.  She had me gathering up stuff like baking powder and hydrogen peroxide while she mixed a special skunk shampoo.  I gave her some disposable gloves and she proceeded to scrub it all over Penny.  Then Penny went back to rolling in the dirt and occasionally trying to get someone anyone to pet her.  In case someone that reads this has heard that a tomato juice bath will get the smell out.  It doesn't!  You just end up with tomato juice everywhere when the dog tries to shake it off, and you still don't want to be anywhere near the dog.  My laundry room looked like it had red speckled wall paper after I tried to do that the first time she got sprayed.  While DD was working on the dog, I was making my own recipe of marshmellows, rolled in p-nut butter, and some other stuff.  I intended to put this enticing snack under the hen house through a hole where there is a  piece of loose tin.  DH gave me a rake and an order to reach with it to pull the tin back so that he could deliver the meal to the skunk, but all of a sudden he threw it like a hand grenade with the pin pulled and took off  when he thought he saw the skunk.  Later in the afternoon I found several places where people suggested blaring loud music.  Apparently skunks don't like to party.  I found an old radio alarm clock small enough to fit through the hole.  I tuned it to a favorite Christian radio station (for the chicks and ducks sake), turned it up full blast and pushed it under the hen house.  Now I'm not sure what to do.  How will I know if the skunk has left.  007 would probably have a cool camera thingy that I could borrow to feed into the hole to see if any skunks are lurking in the darkness.  We can't board it up until we know the skunk is gone.  Meanwhile, the skunk shampoo, dirt bath, and a night in the shop has done wonders for Penny's odor 
UPDATE:  The skunk must not have liked all the noise because he is gone today and DH has already closed his entrance.  Hopefully no more skunk under the hen house!

2 comments:

  1. Oh, the joys of farm life!!
    That hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and detergent recipe was on a PBS program of a guy who studied skunks. Their lab had worked out the best formula to chemically counteract the smell of the skunk and that was it. My BIL tried it once when a critter got his dog on the farm and said it was the best result they'd had.
    Good luck with Operation Deskunk!!

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  2. Poor Penny. Will you be smelling pretty or pretty awful on Thursday? Hope the ducks and chicks like the music.

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