How To Get Rid of Skunk Smell

Moondoggie, if you find a skunk under there I'm giving you back to the Humane Society.

We have been waking up every morning lately to the smell of skunk, which means that skunks live somewhere near, which in turn means that it is only a matter of time before my dog gets—well—skunked.
I’m sure that skunks are very important to biodiversity and hold a very important place in the ecosystem.

I just don’t like the way they smell.

Hey, I even saved a baby skunk’s life once.

My husband came in one morning and told me that he inadvertently caught a baby skunk in a rattrap. He told me that he was just going to let it die so he didn’t get sprayed.

I peeked at it and saw how cute it was and I noticed that his back foot was barely stuck in the trap. I couldn’t let it die—It was so precious.

So I covered my whole body from head to toe in clothes that I didn’t care about and carefully approached the little skunklet. I took deep slow breaths and tried to keep calm, thinking myself quite the Dr. Doolittle. I could sense that it had no fear of me. I thought this little animal knows I mean it no harm. It knows instinctively that I am going to open the trap and set it free.

It had crawled under a fence and the trap was lodged there. I approached from the front. It was stuck pretty good under the fence so I knew it couldn’t turn it’s tail toward me. Hey, I know nature. So here I come slowly covered in rags, slowly, slowly, slowly.

I start to talk to the poor little frightened creature in a low soothing voice. “It’s O.K. little guy, It’s going to be alright. Don’t you worry.” It was so cute, stuck in the trap so helpless and sweet.

I stretched my gloved hand slowly toward the trap, keeping my eyes on the terrified little critter’s adorable face.

All of a sudden something shifted in the skunk’s eyes and I saw it’s back start to curve in my direction. It’s back bowed toward me and I saw it’s petite pink anus open up and let me have it.

In one split second move I reached for the trap, flipped it up setting the horrible little vermin free and I ran like hell in the other direction.

I should have listened to my husband.

I was so sure there for a moment, that I had a Snow White connection to this little forest creature.

A baby skunk, with it’s foot caught in a trap, stuck under a fence, probably overnight, scared, hungry, sees this giant moving towards him, dressed in rags from head to toe, making weird noises, a decomposing mummy perhaps? A zombie? The Creature From the Black Lagoon?

Snow White, I wasn’t.

I found this recipe for skunk ordor eliminator in the Los Gatos Birdwatcher newsletter. The Birdwatcher took the recipe from Heloise, so I thought that I would pass it on to you.

4 cups Hydrogen Peroxide,
1/4 cup Baking Soda
1 teaspoon regular Dawn dishwashing liquid.
Rub the mixture well into your dog’s coat
and make sure not to get in his/her eyes.
bathe your friend in his/her favorite pet shampoo.
Towel dry.
Then watch as your dog runs around the house like
a maniac to air dry.

Keep these ingredients on hand but do not premix.