Hi Everyone,
Truth be told…every week without fail I am presented with extraordinary experiences that are incredible and hold great meaning. In a way though I have become jaded due to the volume and consistency of them... I have now done well over 1000 jobs involving #wild #animals and everyone is completely unique. When I tell people about them they are in total amazement but what I have noticed is that each of these people were somehow changed by hearing the story. People have been on my back for a long time to tell the stories so…. due to the response about the #baby opossum last week, I have decided to do a story of the week each week.
So, for the week just passed I have decided to tell you about something that is, in way connected to what happened with the baby opossum that didn’t survive after it’s terrible ordeal coming into the world. A story that touched many hearts.
A Sweet Scent… | Story of the Week | Outbackzack
Last week I got a call from a young couple telling me that they had 3 #baby #skunks in their backyard and that the babies had blasted their dogs with spray! Hilarious to visualize these tiny beyond adorable furrys doing that. Baby skunk are the cutest. Sorry Yes, not funny for the owners. Especially having to wash their dogs! They can unleash the pungent spray from around 1 month old and for those of you in countries that haven’t experienced this. It is an extreme smelling spray that originates from their butt glands! Awesome! So if you come across a skunk and they do a 180 degree turn and the tail goes up, RUN! Skunk will spray if they feel threatened, and up to 10ft with dead on accuracy… These babies had come out from underneath a small cool saloon structure built by the girls’ dad. Sadly, one of the #dogs killed one of the babies. The couple watched the other 2 baby skunk play on their lawn the next few days and realized the #Mother was nowhere to be seen. They were #orphaned. Skunk babies will stay with their Mom for around 8 months before moving on. The couple managed to capture them both with a blanket which was well done. However, they made a tragic decision. Thinking they were doing the right thing they released the babies in the forest near their home. The babies were too young… Their chance of #survival, low.
The reason they called me was because they just found another baby… Immediately thoughts of the orphaned baby opossum entered my mind. Another #orphan baby that lost its mother... The last thing I wanted to hear. The couple realized the mistake they made with the other 2. I told them their was a very high chance more were there as they typically have 6-8 babies. I raced over, saw the baby in the box, 5-6 weeks old at a guess. They are on Moms milk for 7 weeks. I quickly inspected the saloon and could see where they were denning but impossible to see what was in there without ripping up all the flooring. Traps needed to be set and I wasn’t going to risk losing another orphan baby so yes, my vehicle was pushed at high speed once again with the little skunk girl riding shotgun to my friend Karolyn at Sunshine Haven Wildlife Rehabilitation in #Riverside. Once there the treatment was initiated immediately. I watched intently. But all that could be done was to wait it out. So I walked away, going through my process of trying to switch off from the experience and emotional attachment. It didn’t work...
The next day I received a text from the couple that another 3 babies had been caught! All in the same condition. The 4 baby siblings were reunited with each other that day.
The latest report on them is…. they will be okay… They will stay in rehabilitation with limited human contact to the correct age that they can survive on their own and will then be released.
Above is a photo of girl No.1 and the 4 reunited. They weren’t very photogenic as you can see. Thankfully, this story ended with a, sweet scent...