SQUATTER FAMILY – IT HAPPENED

Last night, I went out on the porch, planning only to count the skunks and not take any pictures.  But, the squatters came out a little earlier than they had before, so I managed to get a couple of decent photos.  I didn’t get one of all of them because they spotted me and ran for safety.  At least you can see that the mother is almost pure white on the back.

The squatter family.

Running for safety.

This morning, I let Tippy outside around 8:15.  I heard her pounce on the walkway and bark.  I went to the window and saw her retreating around the corner.  About the same time the odor hit me.  I knew it had happened.  She had gotten sprayed!

I went out to make sure she was okay and found foamy slobbers in the garage floor and her licking her lips like you do when you have tasted something awful and are trying to get the taste out of your mouth.  Other than that, she seemed okay.  I got her a doggie cookie, thinking that might help. It didn’t hurt.

She was lucky that there was only a small slit between the boards.  She seemed to only get a glancing blow, and mostly on the right side of her face and ear. I got her shampoo, a rag, and a tub of water and went back out.  She usually balks at all attempts at a bath, but will tolerate it once I start.  Today, she came right to me. She must have understood that I was trying to make the smell go away.  The groomer who formulated this natural cedar shampoo said that it works great on skunk oil, to just be sure and put the shampoo on the affected area before wetting it so that it can contact the oil directly. I followed her directions and used the rag to give her head a good scrubbing and rinsing.  It seemed to work pretty good.

After a good scrub down.

Thanks for making me smell better, mom.

Since she had been foaming at the mouth, I did call her vet and talk to them.  They said to just keep an eye on her and as long as she was eating and didn’t throw up, she would be okay.  As you can see, she was fine.

I’m okay, mom.

We took the trash off later in the morning, so she could enjoy a ride in the truck.  I did have an ulterior motive, however.  I wanted to get away from the constant odor that permeates the garage to see if I had gotten it all off of Tippy.  When she turned her head toward me, I would get a mild whiff.  So, when we got back from our ride, I gave her a good bath all over.  She was due one anyway.  She wasn’t as fond of that, but survived.  While she was damp, I put some baking soda on her ears and the side of her face.  I’m not sure which thing worked, but I don’t smell anything on her tonight.

I hate to do it, but until the squatter family is evicted, I am going to have to keep Tippy on leash when she is outside.  Hopefully, it won’t be too long before the babies follow mom and we can trap them.