Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Dead Skunk House


This fine October day will go down in my books as one of the best exploring trips I have had. It was one of those great days when it seemed like something interesting was on every other road. It was so good that I lost track of time and was gone for 7 hours. Luckily I was on my own that weekend and didn't have anywhere to be or anyone waiting at home. I did check in occasionally though so someone knew where I was in case of bandits or highwaymen. Truth be told, I only encountered actual people when I stopped for coffee and snacks.

I don't have background stories for most of the places I found that day, but I will recount my experience with one particular property.

I was cruising at a pretty good clip down a gravel road when a flash of old wood and red brick caught my eye. I could see it between trees that had dropped their leaves, which is one good thing about fall/winter exploring. It was an abandoned house on an inhabited farm. I was going to keep going as there was no place to get a decent shot between the trees anyway. I turned around at the next opportunity, I COULD NOT pass this place by. I found a house and knocked on the door, I introduced myself and the man who answered and he said I could go take photos. I asked if I just walk around the shed, he said yes, and was waving me in the general direction of the old house as he was shutting the door. I wanted to ask about the history of the house but I will take what I can get and I was glad for the permission to explore.

There were several old buildings and bits of old farm equipment and things hiding in the grass. As I was coming around one of the sheds, a furry black and white mass caught my eye in the tall grass and if I was still drinking my coffee I would have spit it out, or peed my pants. Or both. I stopped dead in my tracks. A SKUNK. Everything I know about skunks came to me: it's bad to see them in the day, it means they are rabid....don't move, it won't see you. Now that I think if it, that's a T-Rex who can't see you if you don't move. Also I don't know if it's true about seeing them in the day either. I actually know nothing about skunks. Cute story though, my son used to call them 'stunks' as a toddler.

Anyway, he didn't move. Was he dead? Sleeping? Do skunks play possum? I got out of there and continued on to the house. No photo of the actual skunk.


She's a (faux) brick house.




Obligatory b/w photo
Asking for a friend, what gets rid of skunk smell anyway? Just in case.




20 comments:

  1. You gotta love those days that offer so much! As for the skunk...he probably sneaked away to the underbrush.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a huge House. Glad you escaped Pepe unscathed!

    ReplyDelete
  3. bottle of Hydrogen peroxide ...half cup of baking powder .... tablespoon of DAWN dish soap. Work great on dogs.

    ReplyDelete
  4. That's quite the house, I love it in b&w. Glad Pepe left you alone. Once I had a dog and she got sprayed by a skunk. She came in to the house and jumped on our bed which she slept on every night. The smell was unbelievable, it was like a major chemical spill. We cleaned her up with baking soda and some dish soap. It didn't take all the smell away but it sure made it less toxic and tolerable. The smell was totally gone in a few days. That was our first experience ever smelling a skunk up close.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Bill! I can't imagine being sprayed or having a pet sprayed! When you can smell it in a car through closed windows it's overpowering and that's just a little bit of it!

      Delete
  5. Replies
    1. Hi Debra, not that I want an animal to be dead (maybe he was resting lol) but being sprayed would have been the worst.

      Delete
  6. Replies
    1. Thanks Steve! Even with the faux brick, she's a beaut!

      Delete
  7. I'm glad I never had to worry about skunks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Adam! They are actually kind of cute but you don't want to meet one in the wild lol.

      Delete
  8. NOTHING gets rid of skunk smell...when we adopted Marlene, she'd just been sprayed. We tried home remedies, Skunk Off from the vet, daily baths...it took about 5 months for her to stop smelling like Pepe. You were right with your instincts, except I think that stay still thing is for T-Rex's lol! Beautiful photos and I loved your story!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Rain! That is a powerful smell to last that long! My son's funny name for Skunks (Stunks) fits them pretty well I have say.

      Delete
  9. We have used toothpaste on our dog when she got sprayed - it seemed to work better than tomato juice which is the old time solution!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi RedPat! Toothpaste...I will keep that in mind. Sounds sticky lol!

      Delete
  10. Great pictures. Love that old house!

    When my daughters were teens, they borrowed their step-dad's car to go to town. On the way home they ran over a skunk. The next day his co-workers made him park the car a half mile away from the job. I found it funny. He was not amused. :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Nice place Jenn!!
    Was shooting an old elevator and this skunk came right up to me. It was in twilight, so I thought it a cat at first. It looked up at me, turned, I cringed preparing myself for what I thought was coming, and it casually walked away. The most boring Skunk encounter ever.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL, that's a pretty good skunk encounter! I guess you seemed non-threatening to him.
      Thanks Chris!

      Delete