Polecats are actually some type of European weasel or ferret, but in Georgia it is another name for a skunk. I try not to ponder over skunks, but recently I have been reminded of their presence on far too many occasions. It seems that the intersection of Jackson Lake Road and Keys Ferry Road is home to far too many. At least once a month I drive through skunk spray in that area. Sometimes the skunk is dead in the road and other times there is no sign of him, other than the odor.
When we coon hunted, it was not uncommon for the dogs to get after a polecat. The chase would end abruptly and the sprayed dogs would come back to find us. They would then walk with us to share the odor and the hunt would be over. It seemed that no amount of scrubbing could get rid of that odor.
I remember a time when we were cleaning up around an old well. There was a piece of old metal roofing on the ground beside the well house. As we approached we could see three little noses sticking out from under the metal. We thought it was baby squirrels. Everyone should have a pet squirrel. We surrounded the tin and when we lifted it we exposed three baby skunks. We gently put the tin back down, apologized and ran.
Once on a horse ride to Big South Fork, in Tennessee, we were staying in our horse trailer. Just about dark we heard a commotion outside. When we looked, there was a raccoon and a skunk having an argument over a chicken bone. The raccoon was on the picnic table and the skunk was on the bench. The skunk was bowed up ready to spray and they were snarling at each other. As spectators, there was not much that my wife and I could do, so we prepared for the worst. As it turned out the coon had been through this before and when the skunk turned his tail towards him and stomped his feet, he gave the bone to the skunk and left the scene. The skunk was happy and so were we.
The worst encounter my wife and I have experienced was at Chateau Elan. We were there for a Dressage show in which my wife, Bobbie, was competing. There were some folks in the barns below us that were not from around here. There was also a yellow lab with them. They had a stall for their horse and another for their tack. When they opened the tack stall the next morning their dog went after what they thought was a cat. That polecat sprayed their dog and their tack. The odor was so strong that it brought tears to my eyes and I wasn’t even down there where it happened.
Skunks are fairly care free mammals and rarely bother anybody. Their diet consists of grubs, grasshoppers, lizards, small rodents and pet food, if you leave it out. They only spray when frightened and they give plenty of warning before spraying. They will growl, hiss and stomp their front feet before shooting their potent formula, up to ten feet, with perfect accuracy. Funny how skunk odor can bring back memories, but remember skunks can have rabies and skunks always have the right of way.
