Skunk Battle at the Corner Condo

A skunk dug a den under my patio. This usually happens in the spring, but this year the critter waited until fall. Exactly one week before I was leaving on my vacation, I woke to the house smelling like a tribe of skunks wandered through my living room marking the territory as their own.

I probably haven't mentioned that I need new windows, but this is a major reason I know I need new windows.

The condo management company won't do squat for skunks on a Sunday. I called first thing Monday morning. They were good about getting back to me, letting me know Critter Control (the real company name, not made up for the story) would come the next day to set a trap. Monday afternoon they called again to inform me there would be repairs made to my patio either Tuesday or Wednesday, and wanting to know if electricity and water were available.

I was confused. All this for a skunk?



No. The patio repairs had been set up by our condo board; the timing was pure coincidence. I asked what repairs. Mudjacking (injecting cement under the patio to replace stuff that eroded away over the years). I suggested they might want to wait until the skunk was trapped.

No. Schedule made. Not waiting. I continued airing out the house and selecting clothes for my trip.

I was at work Tuesday when they did the cement thing. When I got home, it looked very nice. And there was a trap near where the entrance to the den had been.

Wednesday morning, 3 AM I woke up because the skunk smell was so bad. My eyes were watering. I could taste it. This probably meant the critter was caught. Probably.

A Critter Control truck was in the parking lot when I pulled out of the garage Wednesday. I spoke with the nice man carrying a skunk in a trap when he returned to his truck. It was a bit disconcerting to realize the smell wasn't bothering me all that much. Habituated? Anyway, he'd talked to the mudjack crew the day before and let me know it would be several weeks before the cement set up completely.

Ah. I checked around the patio every day for the rest of the week for signs of digging. Nothing.

More airing out of the house. It was better; definitely not getting worse. But my clothes still smelled like skunk. I put those sheets for the clothes drier in the suitcase when I packed, hoping they might help absorb the odor.

Left for the airport on a Sunday morning, excited about my cruise. Also excited that by the time I got home the residual odor should be gone. (The advantage of needing new windows is continuous fresh air. The obvious disadvantage is when the air's been … odorized.)

I don't know if the drier sheets helped at all, but it was a week before I could walk into my cabin and not smell that damn skunk. I left an extra tip every day for the steward. I opened the balcony door a lot.

If anyone on the ship noticed Eau de Skunk instead of my fancy French perfume, they were polite enough not to mention it.

Okay.  Fifteen days on a cruise ship. Marvelous Hawaii, etc. Flew home from San Francisco. Walked up to my door at 11:45 PM.

And could smell skunk! Before I'd even opened the door! Lots of swearing happened. In the morning this is what I saw:

The critter excavated cement! Oh, how sweet. When the stuff hardens it will have a permanent den. 

When I called the management company, she was confused because they'd caught the skunk. It took a lot of explaining to get her to understand A Skunk was caught. It was not the only one in the neighborhood. It had friends. 

Traps were set. Skunks were caught. My house reeked. I opened windows even when it was 15℉ outside. Someone (landscapers?) filled in the den and leveled the ground around it. 

I sprinkled Tabasco sauce all along that side of the patio. Added some black pepper, too. 

There are still skunks. But so far no new digging. 

I bought more Tabasco. 

Come springtime, I gotta get new windows.