The Great Skunk War- Day 5

July 7th- 5:29pm

Part One: Spy Games
He's back...again, and by the looks of things, he is getting more aggressive.

 Just blew right on through those rocks, didn't we?  That wire fence? I weighed it down with the rocks...and it was under dirt.  As for our trap?

 Empty...besides the two sardines left in it...I guess our little friend doesn't eat fish. (We are working on a name for him, by the way.)

He also expanded his front porch a little bit:

 But all of this is ok.  We have a new plan for this evening.  Besides filling in the hole a little...I'm going to be trying a new plan of attack.  My father and I agree that new bait is needed, but we haven't decided on where to put the trap.  Putting it outside of the enclosure brings us the risk of catching something other than the skunk.  So, as of this moment, we haven't come to an agreement on where our trap should go.  Needless to say, it would be nice to have multiple traps...but it turns out that these little guys are $30 a pop. Tonight's bait will be a chicken finger smeared with peanut butter...I may throw an Oreo in there for good measure.

But, tonight i have a new goal...and a new Crow's Nest:

 My trusty clubhouse. it sits directly across from the enclosure, and the area of the fence that our furry friend seems to think is the easiest way out.

I am going to sit up here and wait.  It will probably be long...and will probably be boring.  But by sitting here i will see where he goes.  I won't try to stop him, but I might follow him after he moves a long a bit.  All we know is usually leaves the yard on the right side. With my Maglite in hand, I will wait for the enemy to show himself.


This post will be updated...check back later.

This is an all out war.


UPDATE!


Part Two: Quiet as a...skunk

9:15.



That's the wake-up bell, it seems.  9:15, just about on the dot is when that skunk comes out from under our shed. It has been 9:15 each of the last four nights, and it was again tonight.  I cluttered the skunk's burrow in leaves, and did the same for the hole under the fence, so I would be able to hear when that little guy was moving around.

And it just barely worked.

This thing is quiet.  As in, barely noticeable, quiet. He barely made a sound going through those leaves!  And I made a BRIER out of those leaves!

It inspected the cage, but had no interest in going inside. I didn't think to bring a camera outside, but I suppose I could have. My plan, you see, was to let him do his thing and just follow him a safe distance, to see where he goes.  But, unfortunately, he started heading straight for my dad, who felt he needed to blast him with his Maglite.  I still followed him, but he quickly disappeared into our neighbor's bushes. And something about two people rumaging around in your backyard just seems a bit too creepy for me.

We think the main reason he is uninterested in the cage is because of it's size.  Tonight was the first time we got a really good look at him.  This thing is HUGE!  And it's tail looks like just another body waddling along behind it, and there is no way that this cage could house both the skunk and his tail.  Tomorrow, we are upgrading.

Our fear is that he is, in fact, a she. And that she is a mom-to-be, and that is why she refuses to give up her prime spot. We can only hope that this is not the case.

Bring on Day Six.