Yesterday, just before dusk, I launched my utility boat from the protected little cove in front of my campsite at AZ's Apache Lake, and proceeded to bait and set my crayfish traps, near the shore, but in water deep enough to warrant using the boat, rather than tossing the traps off the rocky shore. Dusk seems to be the witching hour for skunks, so, I left the .45 on the camp table, but tossed the 617 in its Safepacker Holster into the boat. After untangling a knot of poly line and getting the traps launched, out of the corner of my eye I saw a white stripe undulating over the shoreside boulders --- a hog-nosed skunk, likely rabid. Unfortunately, it vanished into the deepening shadows of the brush above high waterline. It was headed away from my camp, so I quit worrying about it. I switched out the mushroom anchor for a light Danforth, anticipating the forecast big blow in early morning, and walked up the shore to camp.
Whereupon, I noticed, a few feet from my tent, a striped skunk, rummaging in the mesquite bosque duff, and giving me a baleful, green-eyed glance. Jamming plugs into ear canals, I commenced firing, to unknown effect --- hit, I think, but not KO'd. Hoping this was the end of it, I lit a lantern, fixed an adult beverage (Jim Beam, rocks, in a Coleman stainless steel double wall mug --- thermally important when the ambient air temp is still cooling down from 100F), and thought my skunk problems were solved for the evening.
But, no. After a while, I heard a small scratching, and turned to find another skunk, only about 12 feet away. It responded to my high-intensity Surefire headlamp beam with disdain, and kept on doing what it had been doing, i.e., worryring me about its being rabid, and showing no fear of an ominously larger probable predator, me. So, once again donning earplugs, and with headlamp on and flashlight in hand (its not just skunks --you need to make sure you're not stepping on a rattlesnake, Gila Monster, etc.) I confronted the intruder, causing it to casually meander off, until, once it was sufficiently distant from my camp setup, and, out of the range of fire of my anchored boat (!), I shot it. Illuminating it for the killing shot, I noticed yet another skunk skulking along the shoreline in the distance. I used my garden rake to transport the deceased skunk's carcass to a boulder on the shoreline --- it was vanished in entirety when I checked shortly after dawn.
This wasn't the end of it --- an hour or so later, after I'd finished fixing and eating dinner, put the trash safely away, etc., and resumed reading Elmore Leonard, another "sixth sense" moment prompted me to turn around and find yet another skunk advancing into my camp's pool of lantern light, too late, too near, for gunfire. A sharp shout and handclap caused the skunk to turn tail and flee...
Anticipating further incursions, I slept fitfully all night, but without further incident...
Whereupon, I noticed, a few feet from my tent, a striped skunk, rummaging in the mesquite bosque duff, and giving me a baleful, green-eyed glance. Jamming plugs into ear canals, I commenced firing, to unknown effect --- hit, I think, but not KO'd. Hoping this was the end of it, I lit a lantern, fixed an adult beverage (Jim Beam, rocks, in a Coleman stainless steel double wall mug --- thermally important when the ambient air temp is still cooling down from 100F), and thought my skunk problems were solved for the evening.
But, no. After a while, I heard a small scratching, and turned to find another skunk, only about 12 feet away. It responded to my high-intensity Surefire headlamp beam with disdain, and kept on doing what it had been doing, i.e., worryring me about its being rabid, and showing no fear of an ominously larger probable predator, me. So, once again donning earplugs, and with headlamp on and flashlight in hand (its not just skunks --you need to make sure you're not stepping on a rattlesnake, Gila Monster, etc.) I confronted the intruder, causing it to casually meander off, until, once it was sufficiently distant from my camp setup, and, out of the range of fire of my anchored boat (!), I shot it. Illuminating it for the killing shot, I noticed yet another skunk skulking along the shoreline in the distance. I used my garden rake to transport the deceased skunk's carcass to a boulder on the shoreline --- it was vanished in entirety when I checked shortly after dawn.
This wasn't the end of it --- an hour or so later, after I'd finished fixing and eating dinner, put the trash safely away, etc., and resumed reading Elmore Leonard, another "sixth sense" moment prompted me to turn around and find yet another skunk advancing into my camp's pool of lantern light, too late, too near, for gunfire. A sharp shout and handclap caused the skunk to turn tail and flee...
Anticipating further incursions, I slept fitfully all night, but without further incident...
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