LOL, no thanks, I think he should grow up to be a nice little wild skunk... preferably living somewhere a little farther afield from my house so DH quits worrying that one of the neighborhood pets will cause him to spray up the place. They are definitely cute, but I've heard too many stories about people getting cute little baby skunks, having them descented, then discovering that skunks can get nippy as they get older (especially without good training)... then what? Some folks just shrug and release them back into the wild, which seems downright cruel to me and is doubtless fatal to the skunk. I clicked on some of those links on that site, but I think the site might be older and no longer working properly (the "upcoming" show was for a 2002 date).
July Bingo Calls (and chat)
Yes, a vet can remove the scent gland......they are supposedly just like cats...litter box and all......you have to get them young.....I was actually on a waiting list, a couple here had a pair and figured if they bred them domestically they could get around the wild animal in captivity law....they had over 2000 people on that list......the government nixed it though....
In all of Canada or just folks living in the city? Did they have a reason behind it?
In all of Canada...it is illegal to keep a wild animal as a pet....I caught a rock bass a couple years ago and put him in my pond....was told to remove him or be fined.
woo hoo ... I have E. 'Pink Gator' - Hey, I'm in Florida, so I had to choose that as one of my 15! And .... it's a Beautiful plant too! Sinningia gutata is really, really pretty too .... wonder why I didn't pick that as one for my card? When threegardeners posted the list to choose from I googled every single plant to see a picture ... and the fifteen I chose are all now on my wish list! I gotta go back through this thread, I may have missed a couple of calls if there were already six ... I thought I only counted four!
Skunks? For pets? I know some folks do love those little critters, but I have also heard that they can remove the scent gland but there still will be some (not so pleasant) scent from those animals. I don't like the idea of anyone taking a wild animal and trying to tame it. I too have heard they can get nippy. My best friends Brother In Law has a squirrel he raised from a baby ... fell out of a tree or something. He's had it for years. My neighbor told me about her son in law raising a male raccoon that he found as a baby but it was a one person pet, didn't like his wife or any other people, and became a bit mean so he had to take it to a rehabilitator. I think it got to the age where it needed a female coon companion! Down here in Florida it's scary sometimes. In South Florida ( Miami and Lauderdale) there are huge Python Snakes and a few different kinds of Huge Lizards/Iguanas that folks got as pets and then let loose when they grew up! They've found a couple of those Big (6' long) Monitor Lizards loose in the Orlando area too .... they are meat eaters and have been eating small pets!! Folks are scared, and rightfully so, of letting small children play outdoors! Gosh, it's bad enough with Gators down here, we sure don't need these other animals loose too!
Yippee!! Had them both today.... That sinningia Guttata is a real beauty!
I can see why people would be come enamored of baby skunks as I was out walking a while back and a momma skunk with three little babies following behind her walked out in front of me and those babies were they cutest little things you've ever seen!! Walking one right after another in a straight line behind mom. Sure glad I saw them all first though! I stopped dead in my tracks and just let them go on their merry way...
CJ I came in late last night and saw that bump on your babies head! Wow what a big ugly one! It's amazing how tough little kids are isn't it? My grandson who is now 9 years old ended up getting the only stitches he's had in his life while I was baby sitting!!! He was about the same age as your little guy and was playing and pretending to run away from me in a book store, tripped and face planted into a book shelf. I was fully expecting a huge knot when I scooped him up but not all the blood!!!! Five stitches later he was back together but it's not an experience I want to ever repeat!
~Brenda
MsC doing the happy dance... I got both!
Thanks for picking up that ESP message I have aheadache from sending it all day...lol
40 years ago when my family first moved to Florida we saw and smelled skunks all the time (Orlando area.) Haven't seen or smelled one of those things in years and don't care to! They are sooo cute but, WHEW! Only Skunk I like is "Pepe Le' Pew" the cartoon critter! At least I think that was his name! :)
Hey! I got another one... the Episcia 'Pink Gator'!
Ya know I like the episcias!!!
Karen
OK... here's my skunk story... and at the end, maybe your cure! ;-)
Year's ago, I lived in an old farmhouse on the outskirts of the town of Blacksburg, that sat on 3-4 acres. We loved it, 'cause at that time I was actively breeding and training German Shepherds, and we had nine! (Whew!!!) I quickly dubbed the place the "Blacksburg Urban Wildlife Refuge Center"... ha! LOL, right? Wrong!!!
We had so much trouble with critters (sorry Critter!) getting in our house. First a possum getting trapped behind our dryer, then in the wall. Then... the skunks!!!
I was with my ex-husband at the time, and the first winter we lived in that house was the winter of 93-94. We had terrible ice storms that winter... any one else remember them? They were bad up and down the east coast. Anyway... during the first of two of the worst ice storms, my mom lost power six miles away, so we invited her to come and stay with us, 'cause we still had power. Well of course, wouldn't you know it, but we lost power about 2am that night! Around that time, my mom woke up, and said she could hear something outside. We looked out my bedroom window, and right there below the window was a *@#% skunk digging his way under our house! Aarrggghhh!!!! We tapped on the window, and shined the flashlight at it, hoping to spook it away... but nnooooo!!! He went right on up under the house! So we are now standing in the kitchen, in the dark, wondering what in the blue *@#% we're supposed to do now... when... OMG!!!! The smell hit us in the face like a wall!!! Oohhh!!! It was one of the worst things I have ever been through. Yep... he sprayed, under the house, then left! Why, thank you very much Mr. Skunk! You let me get my hands around your *@#$%% neck!!! The smell was so strong, you could taste it. It was awful. We had no where to go, and it was a horribly long night. The odor seemd like it permeated everything... it was in your clothes, in your sinuses, in your hair. Days it took... to clear out the smell. Oh!!! But it's not over yet!
About a week later, my ex-husband and I are asleep in bed. Ex-hubby gets up to go to bathroom. Ex-hubby comes back to the bed, and starts shaking me... "Wake up, wake up!"....
"Karen! Wake up!"
"Mmmm.."
"Ya gotta wake up! There's a skunk in the bathroom!"
"Hhmmm... What? Wha..."
"No, Karen... Ya gotta wake up! There's a skunk in the bathroom!"
"What??? You've gotta be *@#$$%in' me!"
"No, really!!! Get up! You've gotta see this! There's a skunk in the bathroom!"
"OMG! Are you sure it's not one of the cats?" (We had five...)
"No!!! It's a skunk! Get up!"
Karen gets up... takes the flashlight from ex-hubby... goes to bathroom door (thankfully shut)... opens the door slowly, and flashes the light inside...
Yep!!! Sure enough! There's a *@#$-$%**@# skunk in the bathroom, lookin' right back at me!
Stand outside the bathroom door, thinking... what the *@#$ are we gonna do now? Noises... scratching... then, nothing. Go to door... listen... nothing still... open the door... nothing... shine light... nothing...
Where did it go? Look around... nothing... look in cabinet under sink... a hole, way in the back... the size of a softball (or skunk) Well now we know how it got in the bathroom... gonna fix that first thing...
Whoa!!! OMG!!! NOT AGAIN!!! Yes... that smell! That smell, you can taste in your mouth!!!
Well... I know by now, you all are getting quite a chuckle out of this... and yes... I can laugh... NOW! But then... I cried... and cussed... and wished the little demon away. Another L-O-N-G night!
First thing the next morning, I called animal control. I had already threatened to leave the house and move back in with my mom! Well of course, THEY didn't want to come out and take care of it! Threats of editorials in the local paper, and calls to city council... then he says, "Try this trick first, and if it doesn't work, then I'll come out and get it for you."
Ammonia. Household ammonia. That's it! Nothing else. Just plain ol' household ammonia. Soak some type of cloths, sponges, anything that can hold the liquid... place around the perimeter of where you don't want them. I had a bag of old rags and socks... I took them and soaked them in ammonia (and I mean soaked them), and placed them all around the perimeter of the house (never thinking it would actually work). It did! Never again, in three years at that house, did we ever have trouble with the skunks again. Turns out they can't tolerate the smell of ammonia! Don't ask me why... as bad as they smell... but it really works. Every spring and fall I would go around the house again with my gallon of ammonia and "refresh" my socks and rags, hidden by the grass or plantings... and I never worried about skunks again.
Now who could make this stuff up??? I tell ya... I could write a book...
Karen
Rose....LOL .......been there done that!!! We had a skunk get in our garage and under the back porch that was in there. He was after the dogs food and when my husband tried to shoo him away he sprayed right then and there. I have never spent such a miserable night in my life ( I've broken my ankle in three places and had two surgeries on it but the skunk still beats those miserable painful nights!!!) Unless someone has experienced it you have no idea how bad it is when it is up close and personal!!!! The burning nose and throat that you can not escape no matter how much tomato juice or other remedies you use.... Two days later when we thought we had it under control we went to church and when everyone was wrinkling their noses and complaining of a skunk smell we realized it was our family that reeked!!!!! We had become numb to it I guess but it had permeated our clothes inside the house and our very beings!! We moved from that house several months later and you could still smell the lingering traces of it in the garage!!!!!
~Brenda
Those first hand encounter stories (funny now -- sure not funny then!) make me feel like my skunk-releasing head-to-toe getup may not have been overkill after all!
Thanks for reminding me about the ammonia.... now that I think of it, my parents have used that trick to get a skunk to move along out of the yard.... they set out shallow pans of it; soaked rags would've been better! I may put some around the yard tonight to discourage him from settling in here.
I went out a few minutes ago and set the metal groundhog trap (dang varmint moved in under my deck a couple days ago and started eating my cucumber plants!)... hopefully the skunk has already holed up elsewhere for the day! I started putting the trap under the deck, but though better of it -- just in case! LOL
I hope everyone is all set for a fun weekend!
I had both today. I really like the S. Guttata.
Nope that get up wouldn't have been over kill at all!! Still would love a picture of you in it though. LOL
My small dogs have gotten into skunks and I do have a recipe now for a skunk shampoo (peroxide, baking soda etc) that works really well. You choke while doing it but it kills the smell enough that you can stand to have the dogs around you again. LOL
Took a picture of my strep Hot Ticket this morning, it's a beauty.....
~Brenda
Brenda, would you please Dmail me that skunk shampoo recipe, just in case? I am well stocked with peroxide and baking soda... :-)
Sorry, no photo of the "safe skunk release" outfit, although DH would like me to point out that he offered to take a picture and I declined, LOL.
I'm also really enamored of the spots on that Sinningea! My stripy strep from Nannanavarro is blooming again this weekend -- I must take a photo!
Beautiful strep Brenda!
MsC
I had a pet skunk about 30 years ago. My daughter named him Pew. He wasn't descented, I found him by the roadside, and about 300 feet up the road I found a dead skunk that I assumed was mama. Anyhow, Pew was very cute, litter box trained and went in and out of the doggy door with the dog and the cat. Come the wintertime he found himself a spot in the basement and curled up for two or three weeks at a time. In the spring he got more energetic and was still a delightful part of the family. He had the same routine for the next winter, and was still friendly with us but started staying out at night and coming in to sleep during the day. By the next summer he was getting a little resistant about his bath, and a little fussy about his rabies shot. He quit coming in the house, but would show up when we were outside and even still sit in my lap, which wasn't as much fun because he would no longer accept baths. He still let me take him for his shot, but he did come in for the winter although his 'naps' were now about 6 weeks long. When spring came he went out for the night and never came back. We missed him, but were glad that we left him the option to be wild if he wanted to.
We don't get weekend calls??
Well, I thought about it, but then we'd run out of bingo before we run out of July.....
I'm in favor of stretching out the game... I'm enjoying the daily chat on this thread! :-)
there is a lady on the AV forum who is new and wanting to know what to order if she orders her first African violets........she likes the blooms red.............anyone here know of red blooming violets??????????
I see you all are having a blast once again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Where is everyone???
Hiya stownes!
It's MONDAY... yuck... catching up from the weekend???
At least I haven't missed the daily call yet..lol
MsC
Last month on bingo I was showing the AV I had received from my cousin, one she had kept going from my grandmothers violet plant for the last 20 years. It was my first girl foliage and I was enamored with the leaves enough that I didn't care what the bloom looked like. Well it has now bloomed and it is a delicate lavender and just so pretty....
Waiting to see a picture your stripy strep Critter since we will be denied the skunk release outfit pics...LOL
~Brenda
Brenda,
That's a keeper! I love the bloom...lavenders are my 2nd favorite bloom color.
Was Thursday the last call made? I was out of town Saturday and Sunday and figured there wouldn't be any calls over the weekend, but I didn't see one on Friday either, unless I missed it? Maybe I should take time and go back through the thread, huh?
Yes, MsC it is a keeper, an heirloom and a beauty!!
Lin the calls on Friday were the Episcia Gator and that stunning Sinningia Guttata!! I think you said you had the Gator one, a given living in FL. :)))
There weren't any calls over the weekend and now we are all patiently (NOT!!) waiting for todays calls. LOL
~Brenda
Thanks Brenda .... hee hee, I'm getting old! I forgot about the E. 'Pink Gator' call as well as S. 'guttata'! Now I don't have to go back and read through the entire thread! Thank You!
I will keep watch on and off this evening to see if we get a call today!
All righty...since everyone seems to be waiting :))
Today's calls are...drum roll please....
Sarmienta Scandens..I liked his poofy red flowers, kind of reminded me of a fuschia...which hate me.....well, my climate anyways...
http://www.gesneriads.ca/sarm01.htm
AV Painted Silk........is this what they call girl foliage? I fell in love with those leaves the second I saw it.
http://www.avsa.org/Photographs/PaintedSilkLrg.jpg#http://../Photographs/PaintedSilkLrg.jpg#
Oooohhhh, not only girl foliage, but variegated girl foliage! Stunning! (And it's even more delightful to look at because it is on my card, LOL.)
That is some beautiful, beautiful girl foliage!! Gail is going to have to get this variegated one if she doesn't already have it!!
I had the poofy flower one on my card (they do kinda look like fuschia flowers huh?) and I'm happy with one out of two for the beginning of the new weeks worth of calls!!
~Brenda
Check... and... check!!!! I really liked the first one too! And I always go for the variegated AVs.
Karen
Ooooh, 'Painted Silk' isn't she a Pretty Little Girl! And, on my card too! I'm now up to 5! I decided to go back and read through the thread again anyway and if I'm counting right, Threegardeners has made 10 calls from her list of 35! I guess I'm not doing to bad .... since I have five out of the ten.
I am soooo glad I went back and read the thread again! I missed the Skunk stories! LOL Karen! You should write a Children's book about your true encounter with skunks! I love it! I haven't ever been sprayed by one of those things and don't ever want to be close enough to get sprayed or even have one under my house! (Thank goodness my house sits on a cement foundation!) I distinctly remember the smell from them just walking around the yard - very pungent. I can just imagine how awful it would be to have one spray in my direction! UGH! Haven't even seen a dead skunk on the highway in years down here! Maybe Florida is building up so much all the critter's are being displaced. That is sad, but another story in itself.
We had an encounter back in the 70's with a possum. Heard the dogs barking about 2:00 a.m. and could tell it wasn't a human they were barking at. It was very wooded around our neighborhood back then, not too many homes built yet. Anyway, our two large dogs were outside in the yard ... had a little poodle mix that was inside. Had to keep the little dog separate from one of the big ones cause the little one thought he was king of the world and yapped, yapped, yapped too many times at one of the big dogs who almost ate him! Anyhow ..... I got up and went and turned on the spotlight out by the driveway that runs around the back of the house (where the two big dogs were). I didn't have my glasses on and could see the dogs lunging at something on the ground, jumping back and then lunging again ..... barking all the time. I screamed for hubby thinking the little dog had gotten out with the big dogs and hollered to hubby that (Jason) the big dog was attacking (Charlie) the poodle mix! I kept screaming at hubby to hurry .... he was gonna kill Charlie! I was not about to go get into the middle of a dog fight! Well .... Hubby came out ... grabbed the Malamute who was real docile and put him inside a fenced section of yard, Jason was still snarling, barking and lunging at what I thought was Little Charlie! Hubby grabbed Jason and put him in the shed. Then turned and came back to the animal they were after .... turned out to be a possum. It was all curled up and hubby began walking toward it saying it was dead that the dogs must have killed it. I immediately yelled at him to stop! I said, haven't you ever heard ot the saying "Playing Possum"? Well ... that thing moved just a tad .... began opening it's mouth and hissing and boy those Fangs were really scary! Hubby grabbed the garden hose, turned the water on and began to spray it with water! I asked him what in the world he was doing! He wanted to see if it was hurt. Well, it wasn't .... it slowly got up and walked through the driveway over to the fence, climbed the fence and went into the woods! It apparently had been after the dog food, which the dogs dish had some dry food left in it! Guess the dogs didn't want to invite a possum to dinner. I never knew those critters had such long, sharp teeth! We always took the dogs food bowls in after that and did not leave them out there at night. It's unusual for dogs to leave anything in their bowls and I think that was a one time thing for them anyway, but I didn't even want a trace of food left out there to attract other animals! I was so glad our little Charlie was ok, and that the possum was okay too!
We used to get Possum Families, Raccoons and such all the time years ago. Now, we see Gopher Tortoises which I don't mind and Snakes .... which I don't like one bit!
Good morning, all!! And what a LOVELY morning!! ; )
Whoo hoo!! Got the first one!!! ; P
I'm curious how everyone is doing on their Bingo cards?! I know it's gonna be right down to the wire as it always is .... when a bunch of us are going to be real close to getting Bingo and just watching and waiting for that "one" we need! Isn't Bingon fun! I love that Threegardeners is posting a link to the photo for each plant too! Only thing is .... wish list is getting longer and longer! LOL.
Maybe we should put in a stipulation that Bingo hosts can only have ugly plants as our picks? lol Just kidding!!! ; )
I have four.
4 for me too... but I think every call ends up on my wish list!
DH says I caused yesterday's downpour by going out in the afternoon and watering some struggling plants... LOL. Unfortunately, the canopy on our deck got its frame bent in the wind, so we'll need to do some repair/reinforcement.
Hope everyone's day is off to a great start!
Yikes!! That's some crazy, powerful wind!
Hmmm, I just counted up and I have 7 of the picks so far and Sinningia Guttata and the Painted Silk AV have made it to my really really want list! :))))
Mornin' from Idaho all.....
~Brenda
5 here