Man vs. Beast!

Actually, it's woman vs. beast. This battle of wills started about 3 weeks ago. We live on a small hobby farm. There's an old barn that had once been used for dairy cattle. Time moves on - new owner, new idea. The dairy barn was converted to a horse barn complete with 9 box stalls. We did have horses when we moved here so the box stalls were very useful. All the horses aged and died. We no longer ride. It just seems like too much work. So, now these lovely box stalls are like huge walk in storage units. We have boards, wooden pallets, garden tools, various buckets and containers etc. You probably know of a place just like this.

No more cows, no more horses, just cats and a few chickens live in the barn now. The past few weeks there has been the odor of skunk in the barn. Outside, the air was fresh, not so inside. I thought perhaps a skunk had gotten in under one of the doors where the cats go in and out. I thought perhaps this was just a short visit or it got in by mistake. Not so.

The barn would smell awful in the morning because the doors were shut all night except for the small space under the door where the cats go in and out. Then, during the day, the barn would air out because I had the doors open. Then the next morning the barn smells of skunk again. This is powerful stuff. If we could bottle it, I guarantee it would remove anything you wanted to remove - wallpaper included. Even the cats maybe looking for a change of address. The chickens don't have a choice. They are in it for the long haul. I keep looking around trying to spot the little bugger but just can't find it. There is just too much stuff. I don't know exactly what I would do even if I located it....haven't thought that far ahead.

I started setting live traps outside the barn doors. The only thing I caught were cats. So, after a few days, I decided to set the traps inside. Caught more cats and the barn continues to smell. I moved the cat food up on top of the stuff we have stored in the box stalls. The only thing it did was confuse the cats. I put bananas, cracked corn, and sunflower seeds in the live traps. Perhaps the cats will stay out. Something has to work. Actually, I don't even know when it's in or out of the barn or if it just comes and goes....its version of the Old Country Buffet.

Well, the final chapter hasn't been written yet. We, the skunk and I, are equally determined. The skunk to maintain residence in the barn despite my goal to evict it.

AAH SPRING !