Who knocked over the cat food?

I came home this afternoon with the foreknowledge that Dianna wanted to cut the yard for the last time this year. Yes, you heard me right, Dianna wanted to cut the yard! I mean, it's quite a saga around our house, because we got this brand new zero-turn mower so we could cut our yard and field. I thought it would be great, because I'll get to use it. WRONG! She comfiscated that thing, and I have only been on it for a short while.

Even though I have hard feelings about that, I was going to do my wife a favor by filling it up with gas and backing it out of our garage. When I jumped up on the mower to start it up, I saw movement under the deck which consisted of black and white fur; yes, it is what you're thinking it is! A skunk was underneath our mower while I was on top of the mower. I had just seen the bag of cat food knocked over, but I really didn't think much about it. I guess I figured one of the boys knocked it over, but I really didn't dwell on it very long. As I saw the skunk under the mower, it all made perfect sense.

I jumped off the mower as fast as I could while Dianna, the boys and my Mom were out playing in the yard. I tried the following non-invasive techniques to get the skunk to leave: blowing the car horn and starting the mower. Let's just say that none of them worked. In fact, when I started the mower, the skunk came out in front of me. Let's just say that was not the brightest thing I've ever done. However, that did lead to the skunk to vacate the mower and move to the grill.

I was beginning to wonder what was going to get this skunk out of my garage without me getting a dose of Pepe le peux's natural perfume, if you know what I mean. What I finally figured I had to do was attach a bungy cord to a chain which I hooked to the side of the grill, and I managed to drag the grill outside of the garage. I strategically positioned myself at side of the grill where the base boards were closer to the ground so the skunk couldn't exit the underside in my direction. As I got the grill off the concrete and on to the gravel driveway, the skunk made its getaway to the pvc pipe running underneath our driveway. I would much rather have the skunk there than in our garage.

I know I'm known for rescuing hummingbirds, but skunks? The next time you see the cat food bag knocked over, you better figure out what creature is lurking nearby in the general vicinity. It may be something that causes a big stink - literally!