A Pungent Surprise

The construction crew dug out footing holes, and all three of our kids enjoyed rescuing frogs from the depths of them. After we passed the footing inspection, things really started to pick up. We actually had a frame together! All was going well

until June 10th, when the construction crew stumbled upon a surprise that was more pungent than pleasant. A skunk a wandered into one of the holes overnight and could not get out. We spent the whole day trying every way we could think of to get the skunk out humanely. We laid a thick tree branch in the whole and then learned that striped skunks are poor climbers, only spotted skunks can climb. We thought about filling the hole with water to float the skunk out, but our hole began to cave in on the sides well before it held any water. Ryan considered just hopping into the hole with a towel or something and picking it up. He has a theory that they can't spray if their tails are held down. However, the hole was far too narrow for him to bend over in it, and his father reminded him that they are cousins to badgers and can be quite vicious. We finally gave up and called pest control. Their only advice was to pay them $200 to dispatch it, so we handled it ourselves.

We thought leaving the skunk's body in the hole overnight would give it some time to air out, but we were way off. Our whole acreage and both of our neighbor's places still reek almost a week later. We feel terrible about how things ended for the skunk and we feel bad that the construction crew has to work out in the heat, in that stench. All around, this situation just stinks.