Pets, Pests and Pestilence

It's three o'clock in the morning and I am deeply asleep...
involved in some sort of dream about drowning...
and yes, I was experiencing my own drowning... I know, don't even try to analyze that!

Luckily I was awakened by the sound of an animal trying to claw it's way through the French door 
in our bedroom.
I lifted my head and peered through heavy eyes... it was Sam.
"Lay down, Sam!" I said in my commanding voice...
I knew he didn't have to go potty... he never does.
(Sam is like a camel... he drinks once or twice a day and pees about that much as well...
usually not even bothering to leave the porch, but instead lifting his leg on any 
deck post that is nearby... yeah, he's a little unique.)


I closed my eyes once more and drifted back to sleep...
carefully avoiding the drowning dream.

[scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch]... this time with more force.

This time Jack was awake as well.
He turned on the lamp next to the bed to find Sam trying to get through the door.

Ok, maybe he did have to go potty.
By this time all three of the dogs were standing in front of the door.

The door was opened and Oakley ran out, followed by Annie,
but Sam would not budge.
Instantly, Annie ran back in...
and before Oakley had a chance to follow...
our noses were met with an all too familiar, acrid, awful smell.

SKUNK!!!  Oh, $%@#%&$!!!

We checked Annie... no smell.
It had to be Oakley.
It was.

Jack ran to the garage to grab our handy (i.e. used-all-too-often)
skunk kit.
(It was the third time in as many weeks!)


Into the shower went Oakley and Jack,
while meanwhile I ran to the basement to grab a few pool towels.


As I opened the basement closet,
a shrill beep hit my ears.
Oh no, was it?.... yes.... the smoke detector battery was going bad...
so it was beeping every two minutes or so to let us know.


So that's what had upset Sam so badly.
He hates the sound of high pitched beeping.
The other dogs ignore it... but Sam... it makes him absolutely petrified.
He will hide in the closet shaking violently when he hears a sound like this.


If only I had known that this was what had upset Sam...
he was obviously trying to awaken us....
or get out of the house to escape that awful sound.

The thing is... he was smart enough to not go outside when the door opened...
sensing the presence of the skunk, I assume.

Meanwhile, Jack is in the shower saying,
"Maybe Oakley doesn't smell... I can't tell!"
The bedroom and bathroom were filled with the awful smell of skunk...
the skunk having sprayed right outside our bedroom window...
so it was hard to tell what smelled and what didn't.

Poor fellows... it's so hard to make humans understand sometimes.
There isn't a day that goes by that I don't wish my dogs could speak the English language.


So that's how our day started...
Try to top that!

*******************

It's been a while since I have shared a photo of our newest little person.
Easton, Mackenzie's little brother, who was born in July is growing up way too fast...
smiling now...


What a happy boy!

Oh my goodness, I blinked and August is over!
Happy September, friends!!
Autumn will soon be arriving in all his splendor.
Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend.
We'll be back Monday with more "tails" from the farm...
hopefully no more smelly tails!

Deodar...you asked when I purchased my grazing muzzles for the donkeys.
Sadly, I have no idea... I did an online search to find them.
I had to add sheepskin to the upper surface so that they don't rub on the girls' noses.
Mine have nice padding for the straps as well.

Comments

Louise Stopford said…
Gosh what a start to your day. How clever are the dogs, especially beautiful Sam. Have a lovely weekend and Happy September.
ugh, what a way to start the day!

daisy g said…
What a rude awakening! Glad you have hubby there to share all these great memories! ;0)
Hope your weekend is quiet and stink-free!
Lynne said…
YIKES . . .
I need to make a skunk kit.
Equal portions??
This N That said…
Did you go back to bed?? Good grief!! That's quiet a convoluted adventure..Had to laugh..Sorry.. Have a wonderful weekend..
nuri said…
No, thank you, I'd rather not try to top that beginning of your day!!!
And Easton's happy smile IS totally untoppable. Happy September to you!
Charlotte Boord said…
Oh gosh, what a happy baby!!!

I, too, would like to know the proportions of the mixture you used.
Candice said…
Easton sure is a cutie! Poor you and Jack. What a terrible series of events in the middle of the night. Last summer we had our own skunk adventure when letting our three dogs out for one last potty trip before bed. 10:30 at night we were gathering your skunk kit materials, which we now keep in stock, and bathing all three dogs. Since that time, every time we let them outside when it's dark, we scan the perimeter of the fence line with a flashlight first to make sure no unwanted critters are lurking in the dark. So far, so good. Hope you have a less-eventful, more enjoyable weekend.
Charlotte Boord said…
I got the recipe, thank you! And I hope I never need it, too!
Thanks again,
Charlotte
Oh, that is too bad!!
Every day I look at my dogs and say, out loud, "I know you understand me, baby. I know you're just a person in there..."
We are lucky not to have too many skunks around here - but the Devils Coach Horse beetles have been super prolific and we are making sure the dogs don't get up close and personal with them! Because that is one sting that HURTS.
Let's hope this last skunk go around was the last for a while, you guys have earned a break, for sure...
The JR said…
I can thankfully say that I have never seen a skunk in our area, but have seen them in other places around the state.

I woke up to hear kicking sounds from the barn a couple of weeks ago. Went to the porch to see if I could hear something, more kicking.

Ran in and got dressed, woke the hubby up. Switched on lights and mare is where gelding is suppose to be and gelding was in mare's stall. And they had a kicking match in the mean time. Poor doggie.

The gelding found out it was better not to fight with the mare that has shoes on. He had some dents in his rump.

She had one scrape. It could have been a lot worse. Thank goodness I heard the noise and they were not out together for an additional 2 or 3 hours.

Somebody would have been really hurt.