3 years ago in July I found a burrow in my back yard with a lil black face sticking out of it. While I am no animal expert, I know a skunk when I see one. So Cal summers can get very warm even in the mountains. I went inside and found an old plastic container and filled it with water. I got as close as I could till I could see her fidget and set the water down. From a rear window I could see her gulping down the water with 2 little ones. Since skunks will eat almost anything I put out cat food and bought a bag full of crickets at a bait shop. Skunks love crickets! My back yard is fenced with locked gates, but since I don't own dogs several people used to jump my fence to cut through, crushing down the top of the chain link every time I straightened it. My new friend stopped paying any attention to me as I worked in the yard as long as I provided food and water, all was cool. Not so for the folks jumping my fence. You really don't want to mess with a Momma skunk when she has little ones, you'll get it both barrels. Well my back yard travelers made that mistake each. I was sitting watching TV and I heard someone screaming at the top of their lungs in my back yard. She got 'em dead on. I bought an extra bag of crickets and cut 'em loose after that one. She nailed the second one about 2 weeks later, while he didn't scream, he did leave a nice piece of very stinky shirt on my side yard gate. The chain link remained un-crushed since. Momma skunk took off for a while when the kids left. Now she's back and very pregnant. She really scares me because she comes waddling right up to me at feeding time. She just stands there looking up at me as I put the food dish down. Needless to say I move VERY slowly. I relate this story because tonight she got someone going the other way from the front to the back yard. This dude screamed as he ran all the way through the vacant lot behind me. Even though I have a security system, she's just adds a new layer of security. I have 2 feral cats that were neighborhood strays that I feed. I trapped them both and had them fixed and brought them back. They are such efficient mousers in the vacant lot, that even the Owl moved on for lack of a decent meal. The only mouse problem I have is disposing of the dead bodies the cats leave on my back porch. At least the Girls (sisters) are smart enough to give the skunk a wide birth. I can't help it I just love critters.
