I took to calling my new unwelcome friend Pantoufle because I like the way the French word rolls off the tongue and I'm still a fan of the movie Chocolat . The word also sounds a little like poof which is what Pantoufle apparently does a lot of before he/she come home to spend the night sleeping under my living room floor. So, what is Pantoufle you ask? Meet my unwelcome house guest.
I am no stranger to skunks in fact I spent part of the summer of 1998 living on an island in Boston Harbor which had quite the large population of skunks on it. During the two times of the year when the tide is the lowest they swim the short six foot span from mainland to the island and then become trapped out there when the tide comes back in. All the visitors to the island as well as those camping overnight always asked; "So, how many times have you been sprayed?" The answer to that question was never. Skunks give you many opportunities to evade them before they unleash the funk. Three warnings before you get the stink:
Warning #1 The grumpy Old Man: Skunks will make this grumbling chattering noise as they walk around. Think person mumbling underneath their breath.
Warning #2 Foot Stomp: Skunks will hop up and down on their front feet making it look as if they are stomping on the ground.
Warning #3 False Tail Flick: The skunk will turn its butt towards you and and flick its tail without unleashing any smell.
If you ignore all of these warnings prepare for the funk!!! If the skunk unleashes all of its funk at once then your safe for about a week as they remake more funk for the next unsuspecting victim.
Back to Pantoufle it moved in under the floor giving my apartment a odoriferous smell. The local game wardens set a catch and release trap in front of it's hole and the wait commenced. A week went by and no skunk was captured. Then one early Saturday morning while I was at work the Game Warden called with good and bad news! The skunk had been captured and sadly had unleashed all of it's skunky smell as the warden removed the cage from between the house and the fence. I came home to a smell that was so bad I swear I could taste it. GROSS!! Ack, what the (blank) do I do now. I threw the windows open placed the fans in the window trying to draw the smell out. Four hours later it was no better. I took a drive so I didn't have to smell it. I read online before I left that wintergreen oil would neutralize skunk smell. Ok, where do you find that!? Making a stop at a local chocolate shop I asked if they had any clue where I could find wintergreen oil? Local co-op they suggested. So, after purchasing some awesome chocolate I stopped by the co-op and yeah wintergreen oil!!!
Holding my breath I went back to the apartment and dipped a cotton ball into the oil and placed them around the apartment and waited. Two hours later there was just a faint hint of skunk, but not the gut wrenching skunk in your face smell. Thank-you random internet site for clearing out the smell.
