12 March 2009

Midnight Duty

At midnight, if we're not on a flight we're supposed to total and close out the daily logsheet and start a fresh one for the next day. The logbook is in the BK117 parked 75 feet from the back door of our base, so at midnight I walk out and grab it to get this task done. One night this week I stepped out the back door and in the low light caught a glimpse of subtle movement to my right.
Seeing what it was stopped me dead in my tracks. Click and big:


He/she didn't seem too disturbed by my presence. I don't know much about skunks but I assume their eyesight is good, so I can only assume he/she had great confidence in skunk defense and wasn't too concerned about anything I might do!


I stepped back through the door and grabbed my camera.
Pepe LePew was still there upon my return and ignored me as I got within 10 feet to take these pics.

What's it take to get one riled up enough to make you sorry you approached it?

5 comments:

camerapilot said...

Try petting it.

cary said...

camerapilot got it.

Either that or let your dog play tag with it.

Cissy Apple said...

Skunks scare me. So many are rabid, and then there's that "smell" thing they've got going on. Do you know how far they can spray? You were lucky he didn't nail you.

We've got some idiot neighbors in the next neighborhood who are big on taking care of animals...which is GOOD. But about 20 years ago, these knuckleheads adopted a wild skunk. They allowed their children and neighbor children to play with this thing. And then they found out it was rabid. All of those kids had to have shots.

These people still don't have any sense.

CJ said...

You gotta make it feel threatened...

And dogs seem to be best at it.

Mine got skunked twice in three weeks last summer. They're one of the things I truly don't miss in the winter...

cjh

the golden horse said...

As long as her tail is down and she is still heading your way without showing you her reverse, you should be fine.

When I worked for the vets, we had a few people that got them as kits and had them descented. They actually made great pets. One had the name Rosemary.
I used to own a brother and sister team of raccoons, Bonnie and Clyde. What a hoot those two were. Their mother had drowned in a flood in Indy so they need help. We never caged them, always had the run of the place outside and they loved to run up and greet people and do a quick climb up them and strip them of anything cool, like watches.
Sure did keep some of the family from visiting. Sometimes, that isn't all bad.
They loved driving our coon hunting dogs crazy though, they would climb up on the fence and chatter at them. What one didn't think of the other did. Lived up to their names proudly. Finally took off for good during their third year rutting season.