Friday, October 5, 2012

Skunked!

This is Sophie.


She is our 2 year old border collie.  She is a great dog.  Like most border collies, she is very energetic, but we have 10 acres on which she cam romp around and she is quite content most of the time.  We bring her in the house and crate her at night, but during the day, she spends most of her time outside (unless it is unbearably hot/cold or raining).  The kids love her and she is great with them.  She and Rachel have a particularly strong and special bond.

The only "bad' thing about Sophie is that she tends to be a bit mischievous.  She loves to chase squirrels and she actually catches them sometimes.  (Yes, she is VERY fast.)  More than once, she has delivered pieces of a deer carcass to our front porch.  She likes to rough house with the neighbor's dog on occasion and my in-laws' cat.  Yesterday morning, however, her mischievousness soared to new heights.

I followed my usual morning routine - get up, get dressed, coffee pot on, alarm off, and dog out.  Then, I scurried about getting the girls up, dressed, fed, etc.  Shortly before we were ready to leave, the two oldest pointed out some "white stuff" on the front porch.  It looked like spit - white, bubbly spit (Sorry - gross, I know.)  I had no idea what it was until I opened the door.  I was immediately overwhelmed by the worst odor I think I have ever smelled.  I quickly recognized it as a familiar scent, only intensified tenfold.  That's when I knew - Sophie had been skunked!!

Since we live out in the country, it is not unusual to get a faint whiff of lingering skunk odor in the early morning hours.  Obviously, there is a resident skunk that lives in the woods around our house.  Skunks are nocturnal, so we have never actually seen it (although my mother in law saw it in her backyard one evening a couple months ago), but sometimes, in the mornings, the "fragrance" remains.  Since it was still a little dark this morning when I let Sophie out, I guess Mr. Skunk wasn't finished with his skunkly endeavors and he did not take kindly to being disturbed by a curious border collie.

For the record, you may think you have experienced skunk odor because you have passed by a skunk that tragically succumbed to hazards of crossing a road in the dark.  However, I assure you that you have not fully experienced skunk odor until you, your house, or your pet have been sprayed.  Imagine that roadkill aroma multiplied and intensified tenfold.  After 12+ hours, several candles, and copious amounts of Febreeze, the scent has mostly dissipated from inside the house.  After two shampoos with a special "Skunk Odor Removing" shampoo, one shampoo with a baking soda/hydrogen peroxide/dish detergent concoction recommended  on the internet, and one shampoo with a deodorizing dog shampoo (Yes - that's 4 shampoos) Sophie almost doesn't stink anymore.  If she did still stink, I don't think I would smell it because I believe all the olfactory senses inside my nose have been permanently damaged - burned beyond function.  

I can honestly say I have a renewed respect for the wondrous variety of God's creatures.  However, I sincerely hope that, in the future, I only experience skunks and their distinctive aroma from a distance - a BIG distance!  I also hope that, should our naughty dog ever encounter another skunk, she will remember vividly the misery of being skunked and run as fast as she can in the other direction!!!!!

4 comments:

Martha said...

Good Heavens! What a day you had!! That's an example of a little too much nature in my opinion!

Dawn said...

Our cat has been sprayed. Then he wanted to come in the house! I told him he was crazy! We made him stay outside (in a safe spot) until he didn't smell anymore. It was AWFUL!

MolleyMills said...

I have never smelled skunk spray. I fear I don't want to but I hear it's very difficult to remove. Thanks for hooking up to the Hump Day Hook Up

MamaRabia said...

Ewwww! Goodness! I hope Sophie has learned her lesson, there!

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