Anyone here ever been sprayed by a skunk? How'd it happen? How'd you handle the smell and the baths? And how long until you didn't smell like skunk anymore?
I have, a couple of times, but since I told the story in another thread, I'll just quote it here. The skunk episode comes after a discussion of raccoons. I had to sleep in the barn for a couple of nights, and I spent a lot of time in the river.
Wow, sounds like you had quite the smelly time both times. Sleeping in the barn after getting skunked sounds like something plenty of folks who grew up in the countryside must have done at least once. Scrubbing in the river must have taken a long time to put even a little dent in your stink. I hope for your sake that you didn't have an audience during it.
I THOUGHT TOMATO JUICE WOULD DO THE TRICK. BUT THE ARTICLE BELOW INDICATES ITS NOT SO. When it comes to dealing with thiols, the answer is not to be found in tomato juice, whose carotenoids and lycopene simply lack the organic power to neutralize them. Still, tomato juice is more aromatic than most other household liquids, hastening a process called olfactory fatigue. In short, the tomato juice masks the smell of skunkish thiol, and if one remains in a house redolent of tomato juice and skunk scent long enough, the scent will seem to fade. Leave the house for only a moment, though, and the thiols will reassert themselves with a vengeance. Thiols can be neutralized chemically, though not with tomato juice. Instead, mix half a gallon (about two liters) of 3% hydrogen peroxide with half a cup of baking soda. This forms an oxidizing compound that can be used to soak stinky clothes, while a squirt of liquid dishwashing detergent can be added to create a scent-neutralizing shampoo.
Yes, I got a full frontal spray. I thought the mutt was a dog, and said, 'here boy' as I approached after dark.
I have often seen skunks in our yard but they haven't sprayed. I take my cat out at night so that she can listen to the night noises for a while (a process I refer to as checking for Martians). I was standing on the back porch one night and she was looking from one direction to another, as she heard the noises that I couldn't hear, then she suddenly stared downward. There was a skunk on the steps to the landing. The cat wasn't excited, the skunk didn't seem to be excited, and no harm was done. My cameras catch skunks pretty often, but never more than one at a time, so it might be the same skunk. When I was a kid, we raised a skunk whose mother was killed. If I heard how the mom came to be killed, I don't remember the story. The skunk was not descented, but it never sprayed around the house or yard, even though we had two dogs. We didn't turn it into a pet, and it quit coming up to us when it became an adult, but she hung around the general area all her life, raising a litter of kits in a hole in our side yard, which we didn't use for much of anything. We'd see it in the barn sometimes, or around the yard, and assumed that it was the same skunk since it wasn't particularly afraid of us and the dogs accepted it as family.
Skunks make friendly pets! You can have any competent veterinarian remove its anal glands for about $1800.
Thank you for the helpful info. I'd heard tomato juice doesn't work for skunk odor, but it's so often associated with it.
How recent was this? How'd you handle the stink and the cleanup? Reminds me of something I read. Dogs get sprayed so often because they think a skunk's raised tail means "come sniff me."
That sounds like a lovely arrangement. Glad you and the skunks could live in harmony, especially after your past smelly experiences.
I threw away my clothes. After. couple-of showers I was okay but my car was a real problem. I finally sold-it after spending a ton-of money on smell good stuff.
Ah, so you got skunked somewhere away from home and had to drive home? Bet you drove with the windows down. Anyone there with you when you got skunked or had to ride home with you?