Recycle this!

I heard cans falling and shuffling under the kitchen window, and I went outside and stood very very still. Sure enough, the recycle bin was teeming with life. I waited, and a head popped out. I knew him, he was a spotted skunk. They call them civet cats here, but they are skunks. Mona the poodle had recently been doused several times by him, and the good thing about these tiny boogers is that the smell doesnt last as long as a regular skunk. Maybe 2-3 hrs. Its hell when it happens at 11 pm when you're just about to go to bed, but ok if its during the early evening hours. These things are totally nocturnal.

I left after observing it trying to make a nest or something in there. THE NEXT NIGHT (oh, I should have known) while we were outside at night doing things in the workshop, the thing went in the cat door. Bink, my 8 yr old, was already in bed, he has a sort of bunk bed, he sleeps in the top... thank goodness..............when we came in to go to bed, Mona the poodle was at point in his room, fascinated with something under his huge toy chest. Nico looked under the toy chest with a flashlight and indeed confirmed that the skunk was there. Nico had a prior relationship with the skunk, as it part-times in his woodshop, and they have had regular conversations for a few months. The skunk in essence told him to, no, no essence of skunk. The skunk yawned, rolled over and indicated that he was there for the long haul. They have a working friendship, there would be no fumes that night. He tried to cajole it out of there, it was up against the wall behind it, we didnt want to move the chest, as it would probably spook or smoosh him. We had a mess to figure out. So, Nico went to bed. He had thrown cat food at it, and it ate the cat food and curled up and went back to sleep, so there was nothing else he figured he could do. NOOoooOoo. Not me. I continued thru the night to stand vigil, it got really boring. So, I made a line of cat food out the back door, took my dogs and locked them in the studio with me, and waited. I checked once an hour or so, and at 4 am, he decided to leave. I now keep the back door shut. Thank god that Bink didn't wake up, there would have been a child too wired to sleep, and that night was long enough!