Close Encounter of a Smelly Kind Part 2

 Part 2 (Okay, bear with me...I didn't know there were two parts, either...)

Leslie went out last night (well, now it's night before last) and closed all the big doors on the chicken houses due to the impending rain.

This morning (well, now it was yesterday morning) we went out to lower the water lines. Leslie was operating the drill motor in the center of the house and I was going to both ends to lower the lines into the slots in the migrating fences and then on down to raise the sight glasses.

I walked down towards the big door of House 1 to raise the sight glass. As I started to reach for it something dark caught my eye in the corner which was only about six feet away. I froze 'cause, you know...after the day before I was thinking that possum had finally caught up with the skunk and done him in! Oh, wait...was that a movement? I thought maybe he'd crawled in there and died. But no... its dark back was to me and it was curled up in the very corner...here I am again...is there no end to this madness?!

When I definitely see a slight movement I slowly remove my hand and back up a bit, wondering what I needed to do. Obviously, Leslie had closed him up in there and since he was trapped he did what anyone would do-curled up and took a nap. A nap, I might add, that I was disturbing.

As I stand there he raises his head and turns towards me...that stupid possum again!

Do they not know how to do anything but bare their teeth and hiss at you? I got the bright idea that if the big door was open he'd vamoose pretty fast. I walk over to the walkthrough door and go out and raise the door. Come back in and Leslie is coming down to see what I had been talking to for the last two or so minutes.

I figured he just might be mean enough to charge so I jumped up on the cool cell ledge, hanging on to the angle iron and telling him over and over to go, get out. He just sat there and hissed. I thought about hissing back but decided not to push my luck...just might sound challenging and any possum that would attack a skunk several times in a row just might decide I was easy game. We both had already asked politely, which didn't seem to work so we both had also thrown clods at him...just seemed to make him hiss more.

I got the bright idea of the broom I'd left in the doghouse in front so ran out to get it. As I'm coming back in Leslie tells me he's got it. Not sure how he managed to make him move when all my efforts fell by the wayside but whatever floated that possum's boat was okay with me as long as he left. He scooted under the door which I'd only raised a couple of feet and took off for the side. I figure he's the little critter that has a hole dug under one of the big fans at the back of that house. I sincerely hope he decides it's too 'busy' around there and packs up and leaves.... he needs a new home. Preferably one where he can take a nap, undisturbed. Like...maybe somewhere across the pasture or maybe even in the woods. I'd gladly lend a hand and help him move. 'Course, he may not like my kind of help...

Close Encounter of a Smelly Kind!

Leslie and I spent the day and evening working inside the chicken houses. He was greasing fan motors and I was blowing down. (For those that aren't familiar with the term, just means I had a blower on the back of the tractor and was blowing cobwebs and dust from the ceilings, walls, vents, fans, heaters, etc.)

We had finished up the third house and it was already dark, making it rather hard to see inside the houses, even though we had all the lights on. Leslie had already raised the big door and I went on inside to start on house #4. I had gone on down to the end and turned around, making my way back up the other side. Leslie had been working ahead of me so he finished up and went on elsewhere. After a while I saw him pull up by the big door where he parked the truck and sat waiting for me to finish up.

Coming back down towards him I got about a third of the way down the house when all of a sudden I smelled an upset skunk! This was about the same time I saw a flash of light and heard the slam of a truck door...no sign of life out the door but the dome light was shining so knew that door slam had been from Leslie. I was thinking he had walked around out there in the dark and disturbed a wandering skunk. All of a sudden he flashes a light at me several times...ah! A warning! Just then I saw a small animal come bounding inside the door and head over towards the wall...okay. If he would just decide there was nothing to see there and go back the way he came we'd all get along just fine. Oh, no...not in his plans. He comes bounding towards me where I sat-spellbound-on the tractor wondering if he'd spray me as he passed or if I actually had time to jump down and head for a side door. All of a sudden he stops moving.. oh, that's good.. but he's not leaving. I figure I haven't much to lose so decide my best option is to make a sound loud enough to not startle him (who needs another whiff of that?!) but to make him leave. Trying to hit just the right level of noise to make him leave but not make him nervous I start clapping my hands...maybe that unfamiliar sound from the other end of the house would make him turn and head back outside. He stops moving and just stands there. I can barely see him but KNOW he's still in there! I add a verbal "Whoo!" a few times to the clapping. All of a sudden he whirls and takes off out the door! Yay! But wait.. Leslie's still out there.. but no, he's safe inside the truck. Hopefully, neither of us will have to deal with tomato juice or Dawn and apple cider vinegar or any of the other 'fixes' for skunk smell.

I start forward again and make my way down to the door and-since the skunk is nowhere in sight, I turn and make another round. I finally finish up and head out the door. Leslie has gone around to the control room to turn fans and lights off. When I see the lights go off I get off the tractor and shut the door.

I'm all about getting with Leslie to discuss our excitement of the night and hear his side of what happened. I start about the skunk only to be told that a possum had attacked the skunk outside two or three times before the skunk had had enough of it and sprayed the possum. I look at Leslie and ask, " Well, what was that that came into the house?"

That was the possum. What a LETDOWN! Here I was so excited that I had outsmarted a smelly skunk only to find that it was only a possum in there the whole time! Do I feel silly? Well....