Sunday 29 September 2013

skunked!

'Twas the night before the peep's birthday and all through the house, not a creature was stirring.  Not even a mouse.  Of course, we don't have any mice 'cause there are eleven of us cats livin' here but anywho...


The kitties were nestled all snug in their beds while visions of nip mice - different kind of mouse - danced in their heads.  When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my cushion to see what was the matter.  Away to the window I flew like a flash.  I tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.  No, no, no...  I threw up the sash.
                                                                                             
Not a hair ball, or anything like that.
    
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear?  Why, nothing.  Nothing at all.  There was nothin' to see.  It was a dark, starless and moonless night and I couldn't see a thing out there.  MOUSES!

But smell!  Oohhh...  I smelled somethin' all right.  In fact, I think that's what really work me up.  Woke up a peep or two, too.  Someone had been skunked.

I did a quick head count.  One, two...  two peeps were in the house.  All eleven of us cats were accounted for, too.  That meant that no one livin' in my house had annoyed the skunk.  Thank goodness for that.

I thought about it for a bit.  That left four options.  Four possible victims to the skunkification.  Option number one was nosey neighbour cat.  Option was number two was a rocky raccoon.  Option number three was some other cat's peep.  Finally, option number four was...  well...  I'll get to that in a minute.

I figured it probably wasn't nosey neighbour cat.  Cats are not likely to get skunked.  We're too smart, you see.  We cats know and understand the secret super power of the skunk and know better than to mess with it.  And in general, cats and skunks get along.  I don't know any skunks personally but I've heard that long, long ago before I was born, my Auntie Primrose had a best friend who was a skunk.  Yup, it's true.  They used to hang out together outside and everything.  And even though my Auntie Primrose and Skunky used to play together all the time, she never once got skunked by the skunk.  Cats and skunks respect one another and their super powers.

So what about a rocky?  Could a rocky raccoon have been skunked?  Not likely, I thought.  Rockies are pretty smart, too.  Smart like cats.  There is a gang of marauding raccoons in our subdivision but never once have I heard of any of them bein' skunked.  The rockies and the skunks seem to manage to cohabit in the great outdoors, together, just find and dandy.  So I eliminated the rockies from being victims of the skunkification.

Option number three...  a peep.  Not one of my peeps, of course.  My peeps are too smart to get themselves skunked.  You've gotta be a pretty silly peep to get yourself skunked, I should think.  You see a skunk?  You back away.  You see a skunk raise his tail?  You RUN!  I'm pretty sure that's what either of my peeps would do if they saw a skunky tail bein' lifted.  Also, I happened to know for a fact that both my peeps were inside at the time.

What about some other cat's peep?  Could some stranger peep have been skunkified?  Not likely, I thought.  The smell was comin' through a window at the back of the house.  Therefore, the skunkification must have occurred in my backyard.  No other cats' peeps should be in my backyard at night.  If they were, they were up to no good and in that case, quite frankly, they deserved to be skunked.  But to be honest, intruder peeps have never been spotted back there before so I figured that it wasn't likely to have happened then.  No, it was probably safe to eliminate the possibility of a peep skunkification.

That left option number four and option number four would be a dog.  Of course, intruder dogs are not allowed in my backyard either however sightings have been known to happen.  Our subdivision is filled with dogs.  So which dog could it have been?

Nosey neighbour cat shares his house with a dog but his peeps are way too smart to let that dog roam.  She's never allowed to roam about on her own.  Not ever.  Certainly not at night.  No, nosey neighbour cat's sister could be excluded from my list.

What about the yapper next door?  Nah, I didn't think that was likely.  That one is always on a lead when outdoors and almost never out at night.  Also, he's a real yappity-dappity-doo.  He would have yapped at a skunk, for sure, and I would have heard and recognised the yappin'.  Another suspect eliminated from my list.

That left those two yappers livin' with the new neighbours.  Now that was a real possibility.  I know for a fact that they've been in my yard before.  The peep and I have both seen them there.  I have also seen them runnin' as fast as their little paws would take 'em with my brother Seville hot on their heels.  My brother takes no guff from dogs, you see.  Plus, he's bigger than either one of them.  Not to mention the fact that he has claws and he sure as mouses knows how to use 'em.  And judgin' by the speed at which those doggies were running, I think Seville might have at some point given them a close-up inspection of his claws, if you know what I mean.

I also know for a fact that those new neighbours have a habit of just openin' the back door and lettin' those dogs out when they wanna go out.  There are no leashes or fences or anything like that involved.  They just assume the dogs will stay in their yard.  Yeah, like that's gonna happen.  Ol' Peepers once almost ran over one of them on the road because he or she came running out toward the car.  The peep had to slam on the brakes and then pound on the horn until someone from the house emerged to call the dog.  MOUSES!

It would make perfect sense if, in the middle of the night, one of those dogs wanted out to do his or her business and the people livin' in that house just opened the door to let that business be done.  That would make perfect sense, for sure.  I mean, if they don't go out with the dogs in the daytime, why would they want to go out with them at night?  Am I right or am I right?

What's more, dogs are notorious for gettin' into altercations with skunks.  Many a dog has been skunkified, for sure.  I've even heard of some dogs bein' skunkified more than once.

Now, don't get me wrong...  I don't blame the dogs for undergoing repeat skunkifications.  I blame their peeps.  You'd think that a peep would learn after the first skunking.  Your dog gets skunked once, you don't let your dog out alone at night to get skunked twice.  It only makes sense.

But now that I think about it...  perhaps I should not have been so quick to eliminate the possibility of a peep skunkification.  I was assuming that a peep would be too smart to get themselves skunked.  But if there are peeps out there who can't figure out how to not let their dogs get skunked, repeatedly, then perhaps there are peeps out there not capable of figuring out how to not get themselves skunked, either.  Hmmm... 

To be honest, this is all supposition on my part.  I don't know if it was a dog or a peep who got skunked.  I certainly don't know which dog or peep is wearin' a new perfume of sorts.  All I know for sure is that someone out there got skunked the other night 'cause skunks don't just raise their tails and let loose for fun.  Never heard of a skunk doin' that, ever.  Nope, somebody out there got skunkified and if that somebody was up to no good in my backyard...  well then...  YAY for Mr. Skunk, for sure.

30 comments:

  1. Good job looking out for your back yard, Mr. Skunk. That will teach strangers -- human, dog, or otherwise -- to come wandering in!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hehehe now that is a great indruder alarm ,Mr Skunk Woohoo!xx Speedy

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ha, we get an whiff of eau de skunk from time to time and the skunk always wins.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This just cracked me up! Love all the photos...very entertaining!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Those peeps seem like very irresponsible dog owners. They would have definitely deserved to get skunked!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hmm...not sure my first comment posted. This was so fun to read...thanks for the chuckles - and the photos!

    ReplyDelete
  7. We don't have skunks here and if they are niffy like you say we don't wants any either.
    Luv Hannah and Lucy xx xx

    ReplyDelete
  8. Holy CAT, our mom tells tales of a dog being skunkified down in texas when she was young. OH THE SMELL!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I bet it was the yappy neighbor dogs. They are just dumb like that. The dog here has gotten skunked - twice!

    ReplyDelete
  10. WE have had skunks here a lot but so far haven't been skunked. We know to stay out of their way and they do get along with cats. I have seen them together. Great post. Take care.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Yeah... What is it with all these rampant dogs all over the place? I was sitting in my living room while Pusia minded her own business having a feed when a local mutt stared in at us through the window. I wouldn't mind but he has to have walked at least a mile to get to us and there aren't any other places around. Hope it was a dog and not a peep that got skunked! Purrs (even though I'm human I do this just to reassure Pusia).

    ReplyDelete
  12. We have had skunks here before too but mone ever has raised it's tail!!!!
    WE around here think they are kind of pretty skinks.
    This was a great great post!! You all are very clever!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh I wonder who got skunked! Sounds like Mr Skunk is doing a good job keeping your yard safe from intruders.

    ReplyDelete
  14. That is an awful smell to smell. Good thing it wasn't in your house.
    Sue B

    ReplyDelete
  15. OH Nissy., EWwwwww. My mom's kitty that came before, Robin was our last indoor-outdoor cat. She had a small territory and thank goodness she never got skunked. She was made to stay in all night from 1700 onward till the kids got up to allow her out to go to the bathroom. But no skunking. Thank heavens

    ReplyDelete
  16. You may never know who it was Nerissa, but the skunk knows and was sure raising a stink over it!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Whew, when I read the title I was afraid it was you that got skunked, Nissy.
    I wish I agreed that cats are too smart...Years ago when I had an outdoor cat I saw him at the back door waiting to come in. He was dripping wet and as I opened the door, I thought, "I did know it was raining". The smell entered the house with poor Wally!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Oh! Oh! Icky!!! (and stinky!!!!)
    Kisses
    Nellie

    ReplyDelete
  19. Luckily we have no skunks over here but I bet if we did I'd chase it. Have a marvellous Monday.

    Best wishes Molly

    ReplyDelete
  20. Tee hee. I had a cat name Chuck, and his regular Sunday evening delight was to set off a skunk and smell up the neighborhood. Fortunately, the neighbors never knew what caused it, nor did they figure out it usually happened on schedule. I can tell you, though, tomato juice baths work wonders.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Well Nissy I'm glad it wasn't you or one of your siblings (or peeps) who got that eau de skunk treatment......it's rather icky isn't it! Sometimes when we go out for our first walk in the morning Mom and I can smell that "something" has been around out there causing a stink (so to speak). Once in a while we SEE a skunk out there in the yard but we avoid each other. I hope it was one of your irresponsible neighbors yappers who got the treatment - it's dangerous to just let your dogs out ASSUMING (notice the first three letters of that word!) they will stay in their yard. You all be CAREFUL cuz those yappy things can be mean to us kitties! Anywho - hope your Mom's birthday was NOT stinky and that you had fun celebrating.......

    Kitty Hugs, Sammy

    ReplyDelete
  22. Eee skunks! I kinda look like a skunk, all black and white, but I don't smell like one (even if Mamma says I do sometimes). I'm glad you didn't get any of that on you!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Nissy I'm glad you were able to eliminated any of your peeps or kitties being skunked! We are lucky we haven't ever seen a skunk in our neck of the woods.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Follow your nose, Nissy, follow your nosicle. And if it's one of those little yapper dogs, well, you can laff and laff at him! Even better if it's a peep, though. Heh heh.

    On a bizarre but related note: My Human is one of those weird ones who doesn't think skunks smell soooooo bad, at least from a distance. She almost thinks skunk spray smells a teeny bit like coffee. How crazy is THAT????

    ReplyDelete
  25. Oh, Okay,cool:-)


    It's not raining in Florida! It's hot n' sunny:-(

    ReplyDelete
  26. An intruder of the p-u-ter sort.
    We have had the odd olfactory here, thankfully outside as was yours
    Purrs

    ReplyDelete
  27. Ooooh Nissy! Skunkification sounds pretty dire! We don't have skunks in good ole Blighty, but I understand that some humans can create quite a stink themselves without being skunkified!!! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  28. Those new neighbors of yours, Nissy, sound like a bunch of nincompoops (now, there's a word we haven't used in a long time…think we need to do so more often). Anywho (as you would say), the skunks liven' around us skunkify our yard all the time just to let us know they can and will stink-up anything they want anytime they want. Mommy hates it, 'cause that stinkiness makes her eyes and throat burn, and she absolutely can't sleep when that smell is in the air. Dogs do seem to be a little stoopid when it comes to the black and white nemesis, but it sounds as if whoever is smelling bad will remain a mystery. Thanks for one of the best smelly tales we have ever read. Purrs and hugs, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo

    ReplyDelete
  29. MOL....Are you sure it wasn't a smelly cat after all ;) Pawkiss :)

    ReplyDelete

I love hearin' from my pals. I really, REALLY do. PURRS.