C'est les ridiculous. C'est impossible pew, no. No Pew!

We just caught sight of the skunk in the “back 20” – still within dog range. Yesterday, when we saw that the skunk had vacated beneath the deck, Carm used the massive amount of snow left to block access to the shelter. We saw it soon after, making its way down the laneway and off the property. We hoped.

Last night and this morning when the dogs needed out they were on their leashes – if you’ve ever had 150lbs of unruly dogs that know there are critters out there, you will know what a pain that is. Shame on me for not training them better, but their usual procedure is to rocket out of the house. Thankfully they were slightly better by the third time out.

By this afternoon we hadn’t seen it so figured it was gone and the dogs got out loose to play in the AMAZING spring day! It wasn’t long after we got inside that I saw it making its way across the snow in the back. DARN.

I joked yesterday on facebook that the next option is to have friends with firearms come to visit. Well, I haven’t resorted to that yet… and probably won’t, but skunks can carry rabies, mange, fleas, and of course have the most stinky weapon. My first responsibility is to those under my dominion (the dogs), and secondly, those creatures that aren’t.

 

We had our dance lesson on Tuesday night. I was fun, but exhausting – not physically, but mentally. My gosh we are stunned! One of our difficulties is learning how to lead. It was surely a light bulb moment for me. It was obvious that while we are learning, a firm and clear signal is required, and it finally dawned on me where some of my riding problems existed. I always strived for very light aids, but what I was missing, is that first, while we were learning, the aids had to be very clear and distinct. I’m pretty certain that I fell down in this regard.

 

OH CRAP! While I am writing this I stopped in the kitchen to top up my tea. I glanced out of the kitchen window, and there it was… waddling itself close to the house and up past the trailer.

I popped on my shoes, grabbed my camera and headed outside to see where it was going. As I was carefully walking to the side of the truck – yikes, there it was about 6’ from me, coming over the snowbank. I slowly backed away ;-)  It wasn’t too concerned about me though, and headed to the apple trees where it feasted on last years apples. Oh bother, a food source :-(

You can see by the gravel in this photo that it is just across the laneway from the front door – distance? Maybe 30 feet.

I don’t really know what to do… perhaps a live trap, but then there is the question – what do we do when it’s trapped! It isn’t like you can just walk up to the trap, throw it in the truck and drive to a safer location… How far can I throw a blanket? And where do we release it?

One thing FOR SURE, the dogs will be leashed until we are sure it has vacated the premises.

 

Pepé le Pew: I must find out what this 'pew' means every time I appear.
[scanning a dictionary]
Pepé le Pew: Pew, pew. Ah, here it is. Pew. It means... No! No, not me! C'est les ridiculous. C'est impossible pew, no. No Pew!