I just had a skunk moseying around my kitchen! Don't ask, I'll TELL!

[Lin]

OMG I'm watching Chimpy and I see something moving out of the corner of my eye, I know it's _not_ one of my two cats cuz they're sacked out, It's a skunk, (looking TOTALLY at home btw) walks around sniffing the (new) red rug in front of sink, walks over & starts eating out of the cat dish!

Got in thru the screen door somehow I guess,

I turned out the kitchen light, put cats in bathroom, was quiet as could be, opened the slider wide, me & pepé exchanged pleasantries and he waddled out into the night!

Anyone have a suggestion as to how to get my heart out of my throat? GOOD GOLLY MIZZ MOLLY! Watching chimp and seeing skunk in the kitchen, it's the perfect ending actually,
CRAZY day all 'round.

ps- yes I cleaned up & disinfected and cats have all shots etc...whatta night...whew!

[qanda]

1. That is crazy!

I cannot imagine what I would do if I saw two skunks in my house at the same time.

[dflprincess]

2. A skunk in the house while watching the Chimp -

it must be a sign from God.

This totally blows away my sister-in-laws "2 squirrels in the house" experience.

[Kanary]

3. So, you not only saw a REpuke, you smelled one, too, eh?

Oh, for a split-screen video..... :hi:

Kanary

[sendero]

4. Do you live...

... in a rural area? I've never seen a skunk in the 'burbs :)

[Lin]

6. It's quiet & woodsy, yes, if you could've seen how calm he was,

almost tame, sadly. there were two more outside btw. sweet things are pushed out by all the building, they were here first ya know :)

[NEOBuckeye]

5. Count your blessings that you at least didn't get SPRAYED

You'd never get the stink out of your house!

[Cleita]

7. I used put out food for the field cats when I lived in Texas.

I went out one night to find Pepe, a possum and an armadillo all eating from the same tray with the cats. It seems they all knew each other and no one got sprayed.

[salvorhardin]

8. Skunks are great!

When i was a kid we had (at the high point) half a dozen indoor/outdoor cats. We always left a dish of food out for the ones who preferred the great outdoors at night. Of course, the skunks (and sometimes racoons) would partake of the free buffet too. Since the food dish was usually right outside our back door this could amount to some interesting situations coming home late at night -- as in, how to get around the big fat skunk plunked down right in front of the door.

The neatest thing though was that the cats befriended the skunks and it wasn't unusual to see them eating side by side out of the same dish. In fact, I would swear that one of the momma cats mated with a skunk as one of her kittens looked exactly like a skunk-cat crossbreed, though without the big wide white stripe.

Because of the skunk-cat peace treaty around our house, on more than one occasion it happened where we'd open the door for a cat and have a skunk waltz right in as if he/she owned the place. In those instances, we'd do what you did -- turn out the lights, open the door wide, egt out of the way and hope they'd take the hint. They always did.

BTW: You've never heard anything so frightening as the sound (scream) a skunk lets out when they're scared.

[mike_c]

9. we have a momma skunk that lives under our house off and on...

...and brings her young ones onto the back porch at night to raid the cat food we leave for the neighborhood semi-strays. She'll let us sit right beside them while they eat. My wife touched the newest young one once, just to see what would happen (nothing, but it backed off until she backed away). This has been going on for several years now. Our yard is ALWAYS filled with cats, and none have ever been skunk sprayed, although they come and go under the house as well.

One of the funniest back porch follies involved a local raccoon and the momma skunk (sans baby) BOTH trying to get the cat food at once. Lots of growling and body-slamming, but no teeth and only minimal scent squirting (ineffective against the 'coon, but it made our eyes water)-- we watched from about two feet away, but on the other side of a screen door. Both the skunk and the raccoon (also a back porch regular) knew we were there. We make the 'coon bit nervous, but the skunks ignore us for the most part.

[radwriter0555]

10. Did you gently stomp your feeties at him? That way he thinks you're a

REALLY BIG skunk and moves on rather quickly.

That's their signal that THEY make, that they're about to spray. They stomp their lil front feets.

So if YOU do it, you're the HELLA bigger skunk and they back off.