Fritzy 22's Journal, 14 September 2023

We don't have many skunks here. They are cute though if not stinky.  

I prefer tortoise anytime 😀 

Morticia, there are lots of skunks here. Not a problem except when dogs go after them. They aren't out except when it's dark. After I wrote the entry I saw the skunk had moved to the front porch.  

A skunk lives in my little courtyard, often under my bedroom window, so my apartment can be very smelly. I never see it, but I sure smell it! 

Ha! In the 1990s, I won duck hunt a Holly Beach, Louisiana, the Cajun Riviera, and I took a friend of mine, Mary. Holly Beach was deserted in November. The community consisted of hunting/fishing camp shacks up on stilts, and about 4 streets of beach sand. When walking along a sand street, Mary said, “Stop!“ Ahead under a stilt shack was a skunk, it’s butt turned to us, stomping its feet. We backed up. Thank God she saw it, because I sure did not. 

Please be aware that all though skunk are very friendly and are quite easy going most of the time, in the months of February and September they can be a bit skittish and sometimes a little aggressive. This is not their normal behavior but rather that these are the times that they are breeding so their behaviors are a little different than normal. I find that in the early morning around 4:00 to 5:00 a.m. is typically when they're out most you can also find them at dark latish like 11:00 p.m. doing their rounds for food foraging. One of the things I enjoyed most when I was biking to work was seeing all of the critters going about their business. People believe that there are no wild animals in the city that granted please appreciate those of you that live in the big city that when I say City I mean probably small town to you. On my way to work I would see such things as both gray and red fox, skunk 🦨 (morning), and all sorts of birds of prey (in the afternoon). I once saw what I believed to be a badger not sure because I am nearsighted and didn't typically wear my glasses when biking, but from his behavior, size and aggression I'm fairly sure he was not a skunk. We also have owl that are seasonal those I didn't typically see, but would rather hear. Also during the right inclement weather (foggy light drizzle) we would have bats...beautiful bats that would feed that I could watch as I rode my bike which was very fun. I once saw a larger animal that I believe that could have been a deer, but I didn't actually get a good look at the animal. But it wasn't a dog we have some wooded areas along our campus area I would have never thought to see a deer in this area but since there are bear that frequent the next town over a deer wouldn't be completely out of the picture. If you guys haven't seen the documentary on Coy-wolves on Netflix; I do recommend it that was a fun watch they of course wouldn't be as far down as Kentucky, but I did enjoy the show and thought it very interesting. 

My sister has a hill on far side of her yard. It's all ivy and a few critters live in it. Skunks, opossum, squirrel ,etc. I occasionally smell the skunk and thankfully my dog hasn't gotten sprayed but my nephews and sisters dogs did... 

Sometimes We get opossums on the porch looking for cat food. Lately our dog Peppa has been hanging out on the porch and she surprised one of the opossums and it fell over playing dead. I called Peppa from the kitchen door and when Peppa turned her back on the opossum the opossum raised its head and looked over its shoulder keeping an eye on the dog. I'd never seen one do that, it was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. We get skunks around here sometimes, too, the good thing about skunks is they reproduce pretty quick (maybe that's not so good lol), so it's unlikely you won't have them around for the long haul!  

Thanks Shir and Bottom Line, I've read that they don't spray until.frightened or if they feel threatened, but wouldn't want to test it! 

Thanks Leah, I don't go outside at night to be around any of the visitors. I just watch from the window. Daytime it's different, the deer and wild turkeys follow me while I pull the garden hose all around the yard watering trees. When I add water to a bucket the turkeys go right to it to drink. They always look thirsty!if 

Thanks Diana I had 2 different dogs when I first moved here and Maggie got sprayed in the first day or 2. Bobby got sprayed twice before he was a year old, but since then I'm really careful a out letting him out after dark. 

Thanks Philr, I forgot about possums playing dead! I've only seen one in the 12 years that I've lived here.  

They are fun to watch from a distance. That stink though, 🤢  

We have porcupines. Our son opened the door one morning to see one sitting on the porch. Our poor quarter wolf got a face full of quills three times that summer. Hubs and my brother in law finally trapped the porcupine in a 55 gallon drum and hauled him off to the holding reservoir.  

Thanks Foody. They are fun to watch. They take their time when they are looking for food. 

Thanks Tink, I've never seen a porcupine and am not sure if they are in my neighborhood. I would hate for Bobby to run into one of them!