Did We Catch the Skunk Who Sprayed Baxter?

Surely you'll remember Baxter's fateful encounter with a skunk this past Spring. We can't forget it. In fact, if the wind is just right, and he's a little wet, we can still smell the odor on Bax's face. I swear it's true.



Well, we knew that we had some skunks in the neighborhood, so to prevent a recurrence, we've been taking the dogs out on leash in the backyard at night. So far, so good.

But, then the other day Pepe le Pew got gutsy. I stepped onto our back porch area in broad daylight and caught him poking his head out from under our deck. "That's it," I said. "Game over."

I immediately called All City Animal Trapping, and we vowed to rid our property of the skunks once and for all. Enough living in fear!!

Enter Trapper Bob ... a friendly guy who is far too cheery for someone who has, possibly, the worst job in the world. He set two live traps, and told me to call him when we caught something.

We went one night with no activity, but the second morning -- BAM! -- Two skunks! Bob came with a big blue tarp and threw the pungent perpetrators in his truck for a trip down to some park in Carson.



The next morning, we had a third captive ... this time a small, adolescent skunk. And the next morning, our fourth victim, again a little guy. Don't be fooled by these cute little ones ... they still spray. And Trapper Bob said they're worse because their aim is bad and they are more easily excited.

So, over the past week I've done the best I can to close up the two points we think they're using as entry/exit. However, I can't seal it up until they're all out. Apparently the only thing that smells worse than a live skunk is a dead one.

So, if we have empty traps for a day or two longer, I'll seal it up and consider the problem solved (fingers crossed). The trapping is pretty expensive, but -- trust me folks -- we would pay any price to avoid EVER having our dog sprayed by a skunk again.