Last week a young
woodchuck paid us a visit... “Woody” was seen climbing our west
deck steps evidently checking for food. So our large “Have-A-Heart”
catch-and-release trap was placed out so Woody might be captured and
relocated to other parts. In younger years a simple 22-caliber bullet solution may have been selected, but these advanced years have
mellowed this writer. Prefer to say now - "I stopped killing many
years ago." Well, in those infamous words of Gomer Pyle, USMC “...Gall-lee! Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!”
This unwelcome fellow
might be a non-native Hooded-Skunk, our own “Pepe le Pew” -- he has been seen making several nocturnal home visits over the past couple years.
The top-side and tail of Pepe are totally white and under-side is
black, no simple thin white strip on this guy's back. The capture was totally
unplanned for the obvious reasons, but absolutely no skunk self-defense order... no spray... has been detected from this animal.
This makes me think our visitor is or was someones escaped or
intentionally released pet, where his musk-odor spray gland(s) are removed.
Our cage was cautiously approached
using a tarp shield, quickly covering the cage with the tarp, and
grabbed the cage handle to load it in my ATV trailer. Then drove the
ATV perhaps a quarter-mile to our wooded west property line where a small
creek flows. The cage door was carefully opened, stepping back a
few yards to observe. It took Pepe a few minutes to make his caged
exit, he seemed unsure about these relocation events. Still, no
foul skunk odor noted, and no attempt to execute his self-defense
spray profile as he made his departure across the creek. Watched Pepe for about five
minutes as he walked westward toward new territory, he stopped and
turned a half-dozen times to look back at his captor, but quickly
continued his westward travel – hopefully, to never again be seen.
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