New Neighbors in the Farmyard
Mr. Fix-It woke me up early the other morning and told me to grab the camera.
We have new neighbors.
We think they’ve moved into the driveway culvert pipe at the neighbor’s house. A momma and two babies.
The kids find it all very exciting. I find it very nerve-wracking.
Here’s a few things I know about skunks from personal experience…
- They eat chickens.
- They eat eggs.
- They dig.
- They spray dogs.
- They are not scared of dogs, cats, cars, people…or bears, supposedly.
Here’s a few other things I know about skunks from personal experience…
- Live skunk spray doesn’t smell like dead-in-the-road skunk smell.
- It starts out smelling like burning rubber and just gets worse.
- And then worse and worse.
- Tomato juice is a myth.
- So is baking soda, vinegar, peroxide, and that “skunk-out”-stuff.
If you have to bet on something, go with the Skunk Odor Remover. It doesn’t work like a “miracle” but after about 3 days of consecutive, non-stop bathing I noticed a decline in overall wiffy-ness. Or maybe we were just getting use to it by then.
Something else we discovered when my Kenzie-dog tangled with a skunk…the smell comes back, for months, any time the dog gets wet!
So while I was laying out trip wires and booby traps along our frontage…ahem…I mean “assessing the situation”…I discovered some interest facts. Skunks are part of the weasel family.
Ok, I knew that. But guess who else is part of the weasel family! Wolverines!
Remember when I said I heard a wolverine when we were camping and Mr. Fix-It thought I was crazy and said it was just a fox?
Well, while I was looking up skunks I came across some audio files over at National Geographic and the skunk sounded kinda like the sound we heard while camping. And they are members of the weasel family–just like wolverines. But it didn’t sound quite loud enough and whatever it was kept moving around when Penny would bolt off into the brush after it. If it was a skunk I would have expected it to stay put and spray her (see notes of misery from previous dog-skunk experiences above).
Then I listened to the audio file for a fox–just to prove that Mr. Fix-It was the crazy one. (I’m like that sometimes.) Yeah, no resemblance at all to the sound we hear.
Then I went to listen to the audio file for a wolverine–and there wasn’t one. Hmm…I could be the first person to ever hear the live vocalizations of a wolverine in the middle of the night in Virginia (being 3,000+ miles from its natural habitat, it likely would be a first!)
OR…
Guess who else is a member of the weasel family…?
Yep–weasels!!
I found this audio clip of a female weasel “threat call” — which they describe as a “shriek.”
BINGO! I about jumped out of my skin to hear that sound again! I found my “wolverine.”
And just for the record–I might have been off by 3,000 miles, but I was closer than Mr. Fix-It this time!
Have you had any wildlife adventures lately?
See where I’m sharing this week…
Oh skunks! Whew – we’ve tangled with them before and some days I still think Katie smells and it’s been at least 3 years. Love how you googled the audio files – I think I’m coming to see you when I have wildlife questions!
Yeah, once I shared the audio files with the kids, they had a blast listening to ALL the animals. They totally slept through the camping “adventure” and had no idea what I was talking about!
oh…the only place I have ever seen a skunk is in the road. The dogs have been sprayed before but that’s it. I didn’t know they were in the weasel family. That’s something to know. As far as living in Virginia, there’s no telling what you might see. Virginia has been bringing quite a few things to live here that never was before. Anybody that had livestock or horses around battle( I do mean battle) coyote’s. As for us, our enemy of lately has been foxes but we’re working on it..lol. Loved the post. Thanks for sharing on the Home Acre Hop.
Yes, I never would have taken the idea of a weasel seriously, but it explains a few things about our chicken coop too. They never talk about weasels in school, and they don’t have one at the Virginia Living Museum either (not that they have everything–but they do have river otters, so…). It just never occurred to me that they would be so common until we started looking into it.
If you give a Homeschool Mom a skunk . . . just look at the learning that takes place! Thanks for the education on wildlife this week 🙂
stopping by from the Real Life Homeschool Blog Hop
It’s funny, right, but once you get in a mindset to learn, you find yourself looking up everything! Developing a teaching mindset for our kids has helped me rejuvinate my own learning mindset! 🙂 Although skunks and weasels I wouldn’t have minded doing without! LOL
Interesting post…Where we live in So Ca it is quite rare for us to smell skunk and I have never seen one! I did not realize until recently that stoats were bigger than weasels and hunted rabbit. Have a great week 🙂
Apparently by this time of year, the little skunks should be about ready to head out on their own, so I hope they’re not around for long. Otherwise I’m sure we’re going to end up smelling them quite a lot. Us and our two closes neighbors have 7 dogs between us, so the longer they stay the more inevitable it becomes! 🙂
I didn’t realize some species of weasels were so adaptive–much like coyotes, it turns out. And much more common than I would have thought.
Its amazing how much fear those little critters can instill!
Nothing like getting skunked! My mom had one come in her doggy door. Dog rushed/skunk sprayed and took forever for smell to leave.
Oh my, I can’t imagine! I believe I would have to move! LOL.
Oh gosh. I didn’t know they eat chickens. I’ve seen some in our neighbor’s yard from time to time. Yikes. Thanks for sharing this with us at the HomeAcre Hop. We’d love to have you back again tomorrow: http://wp.me/p2urYY-13p