December 16, 2016 - A Birthday to Remember

Today I turned 58. For my birthday dinner I asked Denis to BBQ some fillets to go with a salad and a good bottle wine at the campsite. A nice peaceful camping dinner. And then the skunk came.

Let me backtrack. Earlier in the day we were sitting outside in our camp chairs. About 30 yards from our campsite was a hiking trail and strolling down the trail in broad daylight was a beautiful coyote. He had a full winter coat and looked very well fed. He wasn't slinking past, merely walking past, giving us a bored glance. I immediately had to count heads and be sure Fu was accounted for and corralled so he couldn't take off after his relative.

Now fast forward to our evening BBQ. We hadn't started the steaks yet, the sun had set and it was dark out. It was a nice evening, a little cool, but we had the door open for fresh air with the screen door closed. Fu was sitting at the screen door looking out into the darkness when all of a sudden his diligence was reward. He had spotted it. He was gonna get it no matter what. His whole nine pounds pushed on the screen and it gave way. He disappeared into the darkness. We jumped into action thinking we would never see him again. He was going to be that coyote's dinner! 

Denis, the faster of us two, was next into the darkness until he realized it was dark and he needed light. As he turned to come back for a flashlight, Fu screamed, my blood curdled, Fu came running back to us and I grabbed him up, then it hit us....the smell. He hadn't seen the coyote, it was a skunk.

My little Fu, that I was so thankful to have back in my arms, was dropped back to the ground. Poor little guy had foam coming out of his nose and mouth while liquid poured from his eyes. We got him on his leash, did a preliminary wet wipe down, then googled how to get rid of the skunk smell. We had all the ingredients but peroxide. Fortunately, the neighborhood Walmart was only a couple miles away. Denis went to the store while I stood outside the trailer with Fu who was not fit to take in. I nervously stared out into the darkness expecting the coyote to come lunging from the darkness. Then I realized I did not have to, I called my son Chaz in Minnesota. He stayed on the phone with me until Denis returned. What a sissy I am!

The recommended recipe of peroxide, baking soda and Dawn dish detergent worked miracles on Fu. When I was done washing him there was only a slight scent around the wrinkles on his face where I couldn't really scrub too hard. We had to throw out the clothes I wore when I picked him up and the initial towels used to wipe him off. In all the hubbub I didn't get any photos, but I found this old one of Fu at bath time to show his level of misery.