The Skunk

     Living in the country, there are a few animals that I just do not want to come across.  One is snakes and the other is skunks.  I have been really fortunate this summer to have only seen one snake.  It was just time to see the skunk.  My brother-in-law had come over to pick up a big brush hog mower.  This one is so heavy, that he had to pick it up with a front end loader on the tractor.  As he picked it up, a skunk came out and moved his home into my tractor shed.  I came outside at this point and he yelled that I needed to pull my tractor out where the skunk would leave.  As soon as I began to drive my tractor out, the skunk sprayed underneath my mower where he was hiding.  He then moved over in the shed to in behind my RV.  Seriously, this is getting frustrating.
      Well, you guessed it.  I had to hook up my truck to the RV and pull it out.  My brother-in-law waited to see if the critter would finally leave.  I pulled the RV out and then the skunk moved over to in behind a couple of ladders.  Ok, I was mad by this point.  I told my brother-in-law to stand by as I go in behind the shed to make some loud noises.  This didn't make any difference in the skunk moving on to a different location.  I came into the shed and used a long piece of 2 by 4 and rammed it at him as my brother in law looked on in disbelief.  I was several feet from him, but then the skunk got upset and came right towards us.  That was all it took for me.  I turned and ran.  The skunk did leave the shed, but sprayed as he did.  Wow, it is one thing running over a skunk on the road with your car.  It's a whole other thing when you are that close to the smell.  I can tell you what, that stuff would make any enemy surrender and run.  Thankfully, the spray did not hit us.  That is the last skunk I want to see up close and personal.  My kids laughed and laughed at me.  I did feel like I was in a Bugs Bunny cartoon with Pepe Le Pew.  Sometimes you just have to laugh at some situations.  I don't know which is worse now.  The snake or skunk.  From here on out, I am praying to not see either one.