"Actually NOT Stinkin' to High Heaven"

     Yesterday, when I got to work, I went out to clean and sweep off the parking lot, and discovered a dead skunk on the edge of the road. Grabbing my trusty shovel and garbage bag, I went out to remove said deceased critter, expecting to find quite a mess. But, he was lying there just as if asleep; almost in a prestine condition. In fact, I nudged him (her?) a bit with the end of the shovel just to make sure it was dead, rather than just knocked unconscious by a passing car. he was quite a beautiful thing: the common stripped type. Didn't appear to be very old. Quite sad, really.

     I've seen people make pets out of skunks. One place I worked years ago a person from Florida had a "blonde" skunk he called "Flower". He brought it out of his car where it was traveling with him and I held it in my arms. It was very tamed and loving, and naturally descented. Said he'd found it when it was just a baby and had hand-raised it.

But skunks aren't meant to be kept as pets. Neither are wild rabbits, raccoons, wolves, foxes or other wild creatures. They're meant to be left IN the wild. Such creatures can not be vaccinated for rabies, and skunks, although they may not "be" rapid, can certainly carry such things.

     Anyway, I finally scooped the skunk up and put it in the garbage bag and took it out to the dumpster for disposal, and went back to my duties with a fond,

     "Adieu, Pepe'"