Something Stinks Around Here

Let the dogs out tonight right before going to bed. After a few minutes I heard a sudden burst of frenzied barking. I figured they had treed a coon. Happens every few weeks or so. The coons come up around the house at night looking for food or water. So I went outside to call off the dogs and bring them back in. Of course they didn't come when I called, so I went down the hill to round them up.

Turns out it wasn't a coon. It was a skunk. I rousted out the wife and kids and we spent the next hour or so merrily dousing the mutts with various concoctions of tomato juice, hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and dishwashing detergent, and feminine hygiene products.

Bottom line - no one is happy. The dogs have been banished to the laundry room for the night, and are wondering why we don't love them any more. There is a faint lingering odor of eau de skunk on all of us, despite showering and vigorous scrubbing, which will inevitably spread throughout the house and worm its way into the bedclothes, necessitating a day of laundry.

And we have to get up at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow for a family function.

Remind me again why we live in the country...