What's That Smell?

The doorbell rang this morning. It was our neighbor who informed me that he had found a skunk under the grill on his back patio. When he uncovered it, it ran under the fence that we share and he thought that it may have gone under our sandbox.

Great. Just great.

Jimmie was at work, so when he got home I told him what the neighbor had said. He was skeptical, but thought he should check it out. After all, the boys and a friend were playing in the sandbox just last night. Better be safe than sorry ;)

He carefully peeked into the sandbox. No skunk. He tapped around the sides & didn't hear anything. He used a board to poke around under the sandbox and didn't think there was anything there. Satisfied that everything was fine, he started back around the house to the garage when he smelled something - skunk.

So now Jimmie was convinced that there was indeed a skunk under the play set. He had built the sandbox insert himself, creating a bench on all four sides of a smaller square. He knew the skunk must be in the space under the bench. After taking off both the front and back panels of the sandbox, Jimmie could see it hiding in there. He took a deep breath and poked it with an extension pole we borrowed from a neighbor. It worked!

There went one. And then another.
That's right, two skunks!
Under the fence
And across the field.
And Jimmie didn't get sprayed - thank goodness!

All the while I was taking pictures through the safety of the patio door.
Goodbye skunks. And don't come back!