TIL: Today I Learned...

itztime said

I could have used this several times (a) a few years back, I couldn't stop a skunk from using our back porch as natures path, every friggin night. So I shot him, right outside my office which is another room connected to our bedroom with a backdoor to the back porch. I shot him in the head as recommended but that didnt stop the ungodly 30 foot spray he unleashed in my yard for a good solid 2 minutes. (b) the dog loves skunks, her last spraying was a couple of months ago.

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I was camping/backpacking. It was about 7:40 in the morning, but I’d been up for about an hour (the dogs always want to get up at the crack of daylight).

I was sitting by the fire ring reading and had just put a pot of water on to boil when I heard them start barking. My first thought was, “damn, are there hikers out here already?” I got up to call them back over and then saw a skunk coming down the hill with its tail straight up and fully fanned out and my two dogs in pursuit.

I started yelling bloody murder for them to “COME,” “STAY,” “LEAVE IT,” but they just took turns getting close to it before backing off. When it got to the creek on the other side of the campsite they finally retreated. I don’t think either of them took a direct hit, but it had definitely sprayed and they both had it on them, especially the older one. Really put a damper on what had so far been a lovely morning.