skunk relocation program

a success!!! then utter and complete failure, sure to have a terribly sad ending.

a couple months ago i read on my aunt heather's blog about their own adventures in relocating a group of toads taking up residency in their pond. 13 toads and a mess of eggs later, the pond was back to almost quiet. yeah for Willa and yeah for them. fast forward two months to our own non-profit organization: skunk relocating. here's how it started.

we have known for some time that we have a critter living underneath our front stairs and sidewalk. we always presumed it to be a squirrel who is persistent despite our efforts to cave in and lock its front door. the kids have explored and attempted to catch it using cheese-its, strawberries and a homemade fishing pole. nothing.

then it started becoming destructive to its front yard landscaping and my patience begins to wear down. dang you squirrel, what do you have against decorative grasses, i'm not even charging you rent.

then is murders an innocent young pheasant hen just a few short feet from my front door, leaving only two wings and enough feathers for a barbie pillow. bad squirrel! wait a minute, you're a carnivore? cute little squirrels don't eat meat, i've seen bambi.

a couple days later, as ripp is taking out rose for one last squat before bedtime, she meets up with a skunk out on the back patio and you can guess how that ended. put two and two together and we realize that the landscaping, carnivorous squirrel living under the stairs is actually a skunk. that has overstayed its welcome. skunk relocation program is officially in effect.

we quickly borrow a live trap and after two stolen apples and two tweaks to the trap, the skunk is secured. after a quiet and stench free transport to the canyon south of us, we release the stinker and declare the program a success.

that is until ripp asks me outside 14 hours later so that i can hear what a baby skunk sounds like that is looking for its mother. i immediately feel terrible at the though of what we have done. how long will this baby carry on and how long will the mother frantically search?

i can tell you that too. approximately 24 hours later mother is back and family is reunited. i have to say that i am amazed. amazed that we thought a mile and a half trek along the deer fence was enough to keep a mother from finding her children. uh-mazed!

these two have done all they can. now we research and wait. animal control will help with anything but skunks and we are trying some home remedies designed to encourage them to move along. if they don't, i fear their fate will be determined at the end of a barrel.

anyone out there ever dealt with a similar problem? i am wide open to suggestion.