Skunk Below the Deck

Our bird feeders and water are mounted on our deck.  Since we do not want to attract raccoons, bears, or flying squirrels we move all the feeders to the garage every evening.  In winter we also dump the water out of the bird bath to prevent freezing.

Last week my husband was getting ready to dump the water when he looked down.  He called me outside.  What do you do when you see a skunk directly below you?  Well, you surely do not dump a pan of water on him or startle him in any way.  And if you have a blog, you grab the camera for a few photographs before the skunk ambles on his way.

The photographs are not especially good ones.  I didn't take a lot of time to change the settings for a nightime picture.  I both feared and wished the skunk would move on right away.  I'm posting them anyway since I suspect you have not looked directly down at a skunk.

He stands near a drain to eat leftover bird seed.  Thank goodness he is much too large to fit inside the drain.

 He moves away from the drain.

 NOTE to husband:  Get the leaf blower out and blow those seeds into the woods.

The skunk family is made up of eleven species, most of them common throughout the United States.  Known primarily for their lingering and noxious spray, they are also vectors of rabies.  That is especially a problem here in the southeastern US.

Dog owners are always fearful that their dogs will encounter a skunk.  A terrible skunk story came from my husband's co-worker.  She was dressed and ready for work.  She stepped outside to call the dog only to see the dog chasing a skunk right into the garage.  The skunk released its spray directly under her car!  Dog, car, garage and the woman reeked of the  skunk odor.  They never were able to completely rid the car of the odor.

We have been very fortunate so far, but we keep a skunk de-odor kit in a pail ready for immediate use.  While there are several remedies, the one with hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and mild liquid soap seems to work better than tomato juice, beer, or even commercially available products.  You can find it here.  We do take some precautions to avoid interaction with skunks.  We close the garage door at dusk when we bring in the bird feeders.  We never let the dogs off leash at night.  We wear headlamps and scan the driveway and street before taking the dogs out at night.

When you choose to live in the woods, you have to expect encounters with the animals whose habitat you are invading.  But we hope to continue to respect the skunks from afar and not up-close-and-personal.

Bobcat in the Driveway!

When you choose to live in the mountains you choose to live with wild animals. In most instances, we see only evidence of those animals except for the deer or the occasional 'possom in the garage or flying squirrels. We see scat or prints in the woods and we know there are more dangerous animals living among us but they are rarely seen.

One animal common to the NC mountains is the Bobcat. We know they live in our community although we had never seen one.

Early yesterday morning my husband was going out to the garage and called me in his "you've got to see this" voice. I ran to the door and he pointed out a large cat at the top of our driveway. "It's a Bobcat," he whispered. I immediately slipped back inside and grabbed the camera. From the back of the garage I got a few shots as the Bobcat slowly walked down our driveway. Needless to say, I was standing behind my husband just in case the rascal decided to come on in.



He sauntered several feet down the driveway and abruptly turned and ran toward the woods on the side of the house.

I crept to the driveway and saw him standing near the edge of the woods. I was surprised at how much he looked like a domestic cat, except for his much larger size and his shorter tail.

He was beautiful and I felt privileged to share the world with him if only for a moment. He apparently caught my scent and quickly ran away.

Bobcats are crepuscular, most active at dawn and twilight when they prowl their defined territory for small animals and the occasional deer. The territory can be quite large (4-8 miles), so I'm not terribly concerned about meeting up with this particular cat again. My husband and I will, however, pay much closer attention when walking the dogs early in the morning. As dawn comes later the morning activity of the Bobcat lengthens. In fall and winter, the Bobcat's prey is more active after sunrise.

-----------Bobcats can be legally hunted and trapped in North Carolina from October through February. While I have no problem with hunting game for food, I do detest hunting purely for the sport of killing an animal and most especially for killing an animal for its fur. I'm happy this Bobcat is protected within our community. The Cherokee connected the Bobcat and the Coyote as the twin symbols of wind and fog. We have seen Coyotes here, and now we have seen the wind (Bobcat) as well. I like that.

----------When our two dogs were allowed outside, their sniffers went to extreme alert. They had no idea what had been on the driveway, but they knew it was something different and exotic and they were absolutely fascinated. I think they might have tried to track the Bobcat had they been off-lead. That is, of course, assuming they weren't distracted by a leaf or a mushroom.