I don’t imagine that many of you have had the occasion to want or need to catch a skunk (carnivora mephitidae), and if so, you are indeed fortunate. For catching a skunk isn’t all that easy and is only done at some great personal peril. Not peril to life and limb, although one hears of the odd rabid skunk snapping at some unsuspecting sole, usually in the city, but peril to ones olfactory process. More to the point, you can smell really bad for a long time if you get in the way of a skunk at the wrong time.
Of all the human senses, the sense of smell is perhaps the least understood from a physiological sense. We all, or most of us, have noses through which we intake vast amounts of air and we smell stuff, like BO, roses, rotten cheese, mint sauce, et al. Actually the sense of smell is not very highly developed in humans. Most mammals are better equipped than we in the sniffing department.
We all should know that the nose does more than smell. It also moistens and filters the air we take in which also contributes to the smelling business. The hair (cilas) inside our nostrils is the first line of defense, but if odor particles gets past here it has to navigate a thick, in scientific terms, mucous layer and finally arrives at the olfactory bulb, which is composed of zillions of neurons. Each smell molecule inserts itself into these nerve cells only to trigger a signal to the brain which interprets the complex odor code and tells us what we’re smelling. BTW it also stores these odors into the memory storage part of our brain and associates it with related sights and sounds. And people think computers are mysterious. Thats why when you see a skunk you immediately start to smell the skunk smell even though you may be well out of it’s effective range.
Enough of this technical stuff. Let’s talk about skunks; which is where this whole thing started. There are actually four types of skunks (not including the philandering husband type) in North America, but we’re talking here about the common stripped skunk which we most often see at Lyday Farms. They are burrowing animals which range in length from 16-37 inches and in weight form 1-18 pounds. Can you imagine coming up on a yard long, 18 pound skunk with his tail raised? The skunk calls to mind many things, but is best known for emitting a noxious odor that is said to resemble a blend of rotten eggs, bad garlic and burnt rubber. I think it’s worse than that. The odor is actually a blend of the chemicals methyl and butylthiol. This is what we all were shooting for when we tried to create stink bombs in chemistry class, but as usual, nature does it better. This noxious compound is created by processes which I won’t even try to explain and is then secreted to sacs which can be triggered by the skunk’s anal scent glands. One on each side of the…you guessed it…the skunks a-hole. This Rube Goldberg kind of set up can be used to squirt/spray upon demand a load of really bad smelling stuff up to five meters with a high degree of accuracy. My research could uncover no explanation of the aiming device that is used, but just use your imagination.
The reason that I’m carrying on about all of this is that we caught a skunk yesterday. Well, I use the “we” here fairly liberally. Actually it was Ray who set the trap, and it was Larry and Marcus who did the dirty and smelly deed of removing the skunk and trap to a place unkown wherein the skunk was dispatched to skunk heaven. But it was my sardines that they baited the trap with. So you see why I claim partial credit. I was dubious of the process to be followed in removing the skunk without causing a major odor eruption as the skunk and trap were immediately outside our bedroom door. Larry assured me it would be absolutely no problem and he said it with the ring of authority. Marcus, on the other hand was crouched around the corner protected by some distance and a ficus bush. I crouched at a safe? distance with my camera and 400 mm lens to record the activity for posterity and to satisfy my curiosity.
Larry, who some of you will know only has about 15% of his vision, was approaching the trapped skunk while holding up a large tarp to his front, which would have blocked his vision, if he had any, but since he didn’t, it didn’t matter. Does that sound right? Anyway, Larry approached at a cautious pace pretty much ignoring directions from Marcus and I and completely oblivious to the increasing alarm being shown by the skunk. I knew the jig was up when I saw the Skunk’s tail go up moments before Larry flung the tarp to drape the skunk trap. I will say the tarp protected Larry and I from the worst of it. No direct hits, but the aroma wafted quickly to the screened in porch, the bedroom, Larry, Marcus and I and beyond. As I was scrambling to avoid the worst of it I saw Ray across the road at the garden off loading thirty yards of fresh compost into the garden. This compost was so fresh that it was still steaming and gave off some pretty strong odor particles as well. As I approached the truck, the driver who looked like he’d just done the forty yard low crawl through the compost held his nose and said, “WHAT’S THAT SMELL”.
I’ve smelled some bad things in my life. Perhaps the second worst was when Buddy, our farm mutt “whowilleatanythingincludingaskunk” ate a whole jar of catfish stink bait while I wasn’t paying attention. Buddy passed gas for a week that would bring tears to the eyes of a strong man. But this was worse, and I’m hopeful that the worst will pass in a day or two.
So you see, not all is sunshine and roses in the country.
