That Smell

On December 11, I returned from a very cold bike ride with my youngest son. He had a late night soccer practice, so at about 9:30pm I was locking his bike in the shed. As I closed the door, I saw this black and white critter scurry by me on my left. I ran away as fast as Donovan Bailey in Atlanta.

I kept my eye on that skunk for the remainder of the night, because it was acting strange. I found a spot by the tree in my backyard and settled in. When I awoke the next morning, it was still there. It was apparent this skunk was dying.

I recorded that morning with Nick Ainis and told him about my dying skunk. Immediately afterward, I filled in a form on the city's website requesting a carcass removal. Someone on the city called me immediately to tell me they wouldn't pick up the dead skunk so long as it was on private property, so I grabbed a shovel and moved it to the boulevard. Three days later, the city picked it up.

That December 12 day, when I moved the skunk from my backyard, it smelled. It's a skunk, so I'm guessing it expelled it's stink juice before shedding its mortal coil. As I write you 13 days later I can report it still smells like skunk in my backyard. I can't remember a skunk smell this powerful.

Which begs the question, does a dying skunk expel more stink than a typical skunk spray? If you've never experienced the death odour of a skunk, consider yourself lucky.