This stinks!!!

Well, today was the kids' first day of summer vacation, and what a day it has been. All was going relatively well until after lunch. I had just tucked the baby in for a nap and was prepared to take the boys outside to play in the sandbox. Playing in the sandbox is something we can only do when the baby is napping. Cami likes to sit on the boys' sandcastles, which, of course, doesn't go over well with them.

I digress. Anyway, I opened the door connecting the house to the garage when a foul odor greeted my nostrils. Skunk! It smelled as if one had just sprayed in our garage. I ordered the boys back into the house. We then exited via another route, out the walkout door in the basement. It is then that I spied a little black and white critter scampering around underneath the spruce trees in our yard. I yelled at the kids to get back into the house, ran upstairs and dialed the number for the animal control officer. I was informed that he was out for lunch and did I want to leave a message? I left my message, but expressed concern that it might be gone before an officer got out here. I then observed the skunk make its way across the road and into our neighbor's backyard. They have a ravine behind their house. I called my neighbor (who also has little kids) to warn her to keep her kids inside, but no one was home, so I left a message. After a period of time and no reappearance, I figured the skunk was long gone, so back outside we went. I settled down into a lawn chair when I spotted the little critter back under the spruce trees again. For a second time, it scooted across the road in front of a car moving very cautiously. For a second time, I ordered the kids back into the house. For a second time, I called the police and requested that someone come out here RIGHT NOW. After about ten minutes, the animal control officer appeared with a gun. I told him where the skunk was last seen and he headed off behind the neighbor's house. He walked the ravine until I saw him take aim and shoot, twice. This happened at the exact same time our neighbors pulled up to their house. They arrived to witness a police officer in their backyard shooting something in the ravine. Great! I ran over to their car to explain the situation. The officer returned and told me he'd shot two and would be back shortly to clean up their remains. I ran into the house to shut all the windows as there was now a horrible stench in the air. The officer returned and put the skunks in sealed buckets while five very curious little boys watched. He informed me that there was a mom and one large baby. He also informed me that skunks can have up to six babies, so there might be as many as five other juveniles at large. Great! He also informed me that 70%, especially in populated areas, are rabid. Great!

I needed to take a nap after this whole experience.This is shaping up to be an interesting summer. To think when I started this blog yesterday I wondered what I'd write about. :)