Mighty green things

I can hardly believe I only planted this apricot tree 2 weeks ago. This is the same tree that's in the last post.

Husband has been working on getting rid of an old circular horse-training type thing. He's dismantling it since we don't have any plans to get horses and we can reuse the railroad ties in other projects. We've had a lot of rain lately so it was a good time to get the railroad ties out. He had the idea to strap them to the bucket of the tractor with a chain and pull them out. I was a little wary of this plan but it mostly worked quite well.

Work day

Today we did some work around the Hovel. We took a few loads of junk from the west end of the property to the junk area. We still need to sort through it but at least it will all be in one spot. Part of the fun of cleaning up is riding around on the mini-trailer.

We also sunk a railroad tie and hung a new gate. This is part of the work that needed to be done to move the garden up near the house. We have to fence the entire yard to keep javelina out. Since the fence will also enclose our porch, we're putting in a few gates so we don't have to jump the fences all the time. The fence is only 2.5 feet tall but that's just tall enough to catch pant legs and cause trips and falls. I'll save someone some embarrassment and not tell the story about the trip over the garden fence, the subsequent fall, and the resulting roll in fresh doggie turds.

Lovely Miss Wildflowerhouse gave us some apricot sprouts from fruit off one of her trees. I've always wanted to try growing a tree from a seed but so many of them need to be grafted. These are supposed to "come true."

Skunk catch and release program

Caught a skunk
Originally uploaded by Beaver w/ a Toothbrush

2010 came in with a stink. I was awoken in the middle of the night by a strong skunk smell a couple weeks ago. I got up and sniffed around the house but couldn't find the source of the smell so I tucked my nose under the covers and went back to sleep.

We investigated the next day and found a hole where a skunk probably got under our house. I immediately started searching forums and found some suggestions for getting skunks out from under the house.

That night we sprinkled DE around the three holes we had found and waited for nightfall. When we checked later we found that all three holes had tracks. We couldn't make out what the tracks might be. Since each hole was vacated we piled rocks and other rubble into them and went back inside.

Around 8:00 we heard a mad chattering sound and went outside to check. One of the holes was open again. We figured we'd try again the next day and didn't think much more about it.

We woke in the middle of the night to more mad chattering and wafting smells. We traced the smell to the middle bathroom and when I opened the cabinet and looked under the smell was intense and terrible. Skunk smell is an amazing thing. When you start to get used to it, it seems to magically change so that you can smell it again. It smells like terrible BO and rotten onions among other disgusting aromas.

We think the skunks that had previously been living in separate holes were forced into the same hole and fought under the house. One of them sprayed. I spent the next half hour taping trash bags over the cabinet so no air could come up from under the house. I put out coffee beans, lit candles, sprayed Ozium and other air fresheners, and sprinkled peppermint oil on cotton balls for our night stands. Just thinking about the smell makes me slightly sick.

Husband tried to sit out in the dark for a few nights and actually see one come out from under the house but it didn't work. It was too dark and the skunks would somehow sneak past him or wait for the moment he came inside to warm up and then escape.

We finally bought a trap. We didn't catch anything the first night. The second night, when we came back from a trip we found a skunk in the trap. We were very wary and careful but the traps are made so that the skunk can't lift its tail and we didn't have any problems.

We thought we might be done but each night the rocks we put over the holes continued to be moved. We left the trap out and baited and finally caught another skunk last night.

This time we were less freaked out so I took the opportunity to take a couple quick pics. After we find a skunk in the trap we toss a blanket over the cage and put it in the back of the truck. Then we drive 7 miles up the road to a turn off far from where anyone lives and set the trap near the forest edge.

Then husband uses a stick with a hook on it to lift the cage door locks on either side. We never catch a skunk before complete dark so he holds a flashlight and scolds me to aim mine in the right direction. (I'm an easily distracted flashlight holder and my light's always swinging this way or that).

After the door locks are up, he puts the hook in the door latch and puts a rock on it to hold it in place so we can be far away when the stunk gets out.

The first skunk we released went into the forest right away and didn't look back at us. This one just sat in the cage. First we sat in the truck for a few minutes with the lights off to see if he was just too scared to leave. That didn't work. I got a piece of lumber from the back of the truck and tried gently pushing him from the front and the back but he just wouldn't budge.

Husband noticed that he might be stuck so we got pretty close with our lights and checked him out. His little front paw did seem to be slightly under one of the bars. I lifted the cage handle and Husband used the hook stick to lift it slightly and replace it. Then we opened the doors again and gave him a slight push from the back. This time he gradually moved through the cage and went creeping into the nearby forest.

We thought we might be done moving skunks but we replaced the rocks again last night and they're moved again this morning. Maybe we'll catch skunk #3 tonight.

**2/21/10 update**

We ended up catching 6 skunks. Skunk #6 was a little smaller than the other ones and managed to spray me when I was trying to rearrange the pillowcase draped over the cage. That was pretty terrible. Everything I had on stunk, including my purse. After treatment with vinegar, bleach on the clothes that could take it, baking soda, dish soap, vodka, and many days on the line in the rain and sun , my best pair of jeans and my nice coat still have a faint smell clinging to them. (I did try tomato sauce and V8 on myself and wasn't that happy with the results).