| Author | Message | ||
     Ccryder |
Friday morning heading out on our country road I crested a rise and what did I see????  A Skunk family with Poppa, Momma, and 3 Kits in tow trailing behind! Of course I braked and stopped. Just to see Poppa turn to me and start stamping his front paws! I'm sure Poppa was quite startled when he saw my snorting HID/ PIAA lighted 1125rt coming his way (heck I was startled to see him and his family prancing across the road!). Better part of road manners was for me to slooowly back up the hill I had crested (not easy for this inseam challenged rider!). Well I just backed off about 15' and his family paraded across the road while he stood his ground. I just hoped the 25' between me and him was out of his "range"! After his family cleared the road he scampered off into the woods and I eased on down the road without causing a stink  The wildlife in my area is very abundant so I almost expect critters to be around every turn. Later Neil S. | ||
| Mortarmanmike120 |
According to this http://www.jonesbee.com/skunked.html you were just in range. "Skunks generally give two warnings prior to releasing musk, first, repeatedly stomping the ground with their front feet. That behavior is followed by raising the tail. This signals the animal's serious intent. If the threat remains, the skunk will either raise its hind legs or turn looking over its shoulder take aim for the face, particularly the eyes, and spray. The range of this irritating fluid is an incredible 8-15 feet and the mist of the spray can far exceed that distance on a windy day." Maybe you should wear a disguise the next time you're on that particular road.  Then again might just piss him off that another skunk is out riding and he's stuck walking with the family. | ||
| Ccryder |
They were the black ones with the white stripe. I kinda figured that I was too close! That's why I strained to paddle backwards up the hill to gain some distance. I had never seen one stomp their front paws like that! I figured he meant BUSINESS! Oh well, until the next time (I do crest those hills slower and, my WIfe has a couple of cans of tomato juice just in case. Actually for our dogs, not for me ;+} ). Time2Work | ||
| Ratyson |
Ha.. Glad you made it out of that without getting sprayed! I was at Road Atlanta a few years ago, camping during the AMA races. I got up during the night to go water some local foliage. So, I am standing there admiring the fauna as I water... and noticed a little rustling in the greenery off to my right. It was dark... but my eyes were well adjusted. I saw something "frond" like sticking up from the weeds that looked a bit out of place. I stood there contemplating what it could be.... and then... it MOVED! It suddenly hit home what that was... It was a skunk TAIL!! I couldn't tell what direction the skunk was pointing, as the weeds were concealing the body (it was a very small skunk). But I did know that I wanted to get as much distance as I could between me and that tail, as quickly as possible. The next problem was that I had not finished with my "watering" project yet... and the lower portion of my body didn't seem to care that there was a skunk in the immediate vicinity. So I started to back up slowly... and as I did.. the tail came a bit closer. And again I backed up, and again the tail came closer. Quickly finishing, I zipped up, turned and bustled away to my camp site... that was only about 15 yards away. I looked back to see if the offending varmint was on my trail.. but he must have scampered off into the woods. I certainly didn't want him visiting my tent in the middle of the night!! | ||
| Just_ziptab |
You may know what a skunk smells like...but you ain't never smelled a skunk till you've been down wind 40 feet from one that just unleashed a fresh load.About as rank as it can get. | ||
| Schwiiing |
About 5 years back, my wife and I were riding back from Napa to Sonoma, CA at night after seeing a movie with some friends - them in their car us following behind on our bikes. We decided to take the back roads just cause. Halfway home, following our friends down the dark country road, my wife and I both felt an unusual cool mist on this summers evening. Turned out, our friends in the car ahead hit a skunk and we rode through the ensuing spray. Nasty stuff. Could smell it on the bikes for a couple weeks. No amount of washing gets into all of the nooks and crannies. | ||
| Xodot |
Our black lab chased one into our garage, got sprayed from about 3 feet away and ran in terror - into our house. He rolled over ever carpet and bed we had before I could get him out of the house. He must have been terrified! (I have some compassion for him now - but didn't at the time) We moved out to my in-laws for a week while a professional cleaner came in to clean up the oily, stinky spray he had spread evenly around the house. They pumped ozone into the house to get the smell out of curtains and clothes in closets and every thing else we owned. The lab stayed tied up in the far corner of the yard for three weeks before he stopped smelling enough to touch him again (the poor fella~!)but every time he got wet - the smell came back on him. He never got sprayed a second time. | ||
| Iamike |
I thought that maybe they were showing the raccoon that it could be done. Cross the street that is. Oh that's right, that's why the chicken crossed the road. |
