Mornin’ Ginchers,
Today is Feature Friday and all I have to say is … “SKUNKS!” Yep, skunks … you probably think I’m gonna talk about someone who has done me wrong or a despicable human … but, nope … I’m talking about those cute little black and white, potentially stinky little creatures. Let me set the stage… my daily animal resort process here at Angel animal reserve is … I get up in the morning and make my coffee and look out at the birds to see if they need any seeds, and usually they do … in fact mostly everything is eaten. So, I pick up my orange bucket from Home Depot filled with bird seed and go out to the feeders and fill both of them and then I sprinkle some seeds on the ground for the bigger birds that don’t like hanging on the feeder to eat. By evening they pretty much go through all the seeds and it is now time for the arrival of our bunnies and two deer. So I put a little more seed in the fedders for the late feeding and a few cups on the ground for the bunnies and deer and then I throw out my baby carrots for the bunnies. Mary Lou and I get a kick out of watching them gather and have their feast. When it is time to go to bed I sprinkle some more seeds and throw a few more carrots just in case they get an urge for a midnight snack. I found it odd that the squirrels have been staying away since I made a new metal post for my feeders but yet it seemed like they were still coming at night to polish off any eatable morcel that remained. So last night around 10:00 I went out back to see if the squirrels were pulling a night shift and low and behold saw some movement at the bottom of the feeders. As I got closer I saw what I thought was the little white tails of the bunnies but, as I got even closer all three of them turned around and looked right at me … I froze in place when I realized it was three rather large SKUNKS! I gently used my Pepe Le Pew voice and calmly started to walk backwards … didn’t particularly want a Skunk spray bath! I went back out after a few minutes and they were still there and just as peaceful as could be, they let me come pretty close and didn’t seem to be agressive. Soooo, being the social media wizard I have become (tongue in cheek) I looked up the habitat of suburban skunks and found out that they are rather peaceful creatures who are actually pretty good to have around since they also eat harmful insects and rodents. So in order to live in peaceful harmony with the wild life on my animal reservation I’ve decided that they have just as much right to my seeds and baby carrots as do my bunnies. Our animal kingdom has grown … now we have a family of bunnies (my favorites), a Doe (a deer, a female deer), a fawn that is now starting to grow it’s first two antlers (a buck), a plethera of birds from woodpeckers to finches, Chipmunks gallore, squirrels, wild turkeys, and two fat groundhogs. I need a score card to keep all of there names. I’m gonna need a job just to keep up the food bill for these new members of our abode! Till tomorrow, stay safe, stay healthy, help a neighbor (or animal) when you can … and, GOD Bless!
Johnny