On Saturday morning, 5 of us gathered for a small quiet birthday breakfast for my grandkid, Macie, who has just turned 20. She is a testament to the fact that BIG things often come in small packages. At 4' 10" and about 85 pounds, she is the Head Life Guard at the U.C. Davis pool. She has also just finished her summer session at the University. She is on track to graduate this next spring, having completed a 4 year curriculum in Cognitive Science in just 3 years! She is pictured below with her mother, Jill, who also graduated from college at age 20.
Now, on to the second part of my story - Awhile back a varmint of one kind or another ripped a vent cover off the side of my home, and accessed the subarea. I had assumed it was a raccoon. However, I noticed one morning that it had chewed a hole in a portion of the siding about the same size a rat could access. So, I replaced the vent cover hoping to take care of the issue. However, during that night, the varmint began making scratching and clawing sounds. Alas, I had apparently trapped it in the subarea by replacing the vent cover. I opened the subarea access cover in my closet and tossed in rat bait. There was less noise the next night. Life was good!
It was a few days later I noticed a VERY unpleasant smell in my house. It smelled a little garlicky! I began to worry that varmint under my house was no rat, but a skunk! Oh Lord, I thought! I Googled, “Do dead skunks smell like garlic?” The response was, “Dead skunks smell like roasted garlic.” I knew I had an unpleasant issue to deal with. So, as described in the top paragraph to this post, my grandkid, Macie is small, agile and not decrepit like me!
This morning, early, Macie came over with proper gear to take on the task of retrieving the remains of a smelly ole dead skunk from under my house. Her granddad also arrived, with a few tools to aid her and to provide support. We had trash bags, gloves, a swim cap, goggles, bug repellant, duct tape, a couple fishing nets, and a grabber. You name it, we had it!
I won’t provide you any pictures documenting what an unholy mess the skunk looked like. However, there was also an interesting mummified rat down there. It had been there awhile. I learned something new while studying it. Its tail is connected to the base of the spine, but it looks like the spine and tail are one continuous trail clear up to its shoulders. Who knew? Not I. That’s what I get for not taking biology when I was in school! But, I did note it was obviously a male!
Happy Birthday Macie! I am thinking this will be a birthday weekend to remember. lol I too have a granddaughter Maci, she is 4... They are precious gems!! Glad your intruder is OUT!
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Roy Kelley
Gaithersburg, MD
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Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
Eeew! That Macie is a gem! Glad you are rid of the smell and the corpses!
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Curtis Van Carter
Yountville, CA
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Roy Kelley
Gaithersburg, MD
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Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
Good morning Myrl Jeffcoat ,
OMG..I can only guess the odor that you were experiencing! What a surprice for Marcie for her bithday birthday week-end! She is indded a brave gal!! Glad you had a happy ending.
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Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
Michael Jacobs - I gave Macie $100.00. The task took about 1/2 hour. But, I felt it was a bargain!
Joan Valverde - Macie is 4' 10" and weighs abut 85 pounds. She's subarea sized!
Lottie Kendall - I'm feeling really relieved!
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Curtis Van Carter
Yountville, CA
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Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
Well, let's start with "Happy Birthday" Macie.... and congratulations to all participants for finding the issue and resolving all of it.... OMG!!!! Myrl Jeffcoat you never cease to amaze me...
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Curtis Van Carter
Yountville, CA
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Roy Kelley
Gaithersburg, MD
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Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
Myrl,
What a fun story, and Marcie certainly earned that $100. What a great grand daughter you have! Happy Monday to you, and thank you for the smile you brought to my face. A
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Roy Kelley
Gaithersburg, MD
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Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
Glad you are critter free and now odor free. They say dynamite comes in small packages. Obviously true in this case.
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Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
Hi Myrl... happy birthday to Macie... you've certainly had your hands full this week... that was some story. :)
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Curtis Van Carter
Yountville, CA
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Roy Kelley
Gaithersburg, MD
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Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
Myrl I have to hand it to Macie. I would not have messed around with a dead skunk, dead one or not.
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Roy Kelley
Gaithersburg, MD
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Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
Hi Myrl- these are the "celebrations" that everyone will remember. BTW- I could have gone all day without seeing that rat!Egads!
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Curtis Van Carter
Yountville, CA
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Roy Kelley
Gaithersburg, MD
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Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
Happy Birthday to Marcie.
You have very good reasons to be proud. Thanks for sharing your at home adventures.
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Curtis Van Carter
Yountville, CA
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Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
Such wonderful smiles they have on their faces and I know you are so proud of them!!!
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Curtis Van Carter
Yountville, CA
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Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
I had no idea that they smelled like Garlic... now with that said if you could smell it that is a good sign you do not have COVID:))Endre
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Curtis Van Carter
Yountville, CA
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Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
Myrl
Once again a testament to why I sold my house. I had a raccoon issue 3 times there. In my efforts to trap it, I trapped a feral kitty, a possum and the culprit. I released the kitty, the Ag Dept released the possum but the raccoon didn't fair so well. Sorry but they are one nasty, little creature and can be super destructive. Love your posts, cheers cvc
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Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
Hi Myrl Jeffcoat - Macie sure had an interesting birthday! One she will soon not forget! Ha Ha. Not many graduate at 20 let alone two in one family! I can tell how proud you are of her and you should be. I missed this blog because of all the AR gremlins and I searched out your blog to see if you had anything new. I am glad I did!
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Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
Barbara Todaro - That's not a challenge I want to take on too many times in my lifetime. But, we did work out a solution, and with the help of Macie it is taken care of.
Ron and Alexandra Seigel - It was the best $100.00 I've spent in awhile!
Sharon Lee - Macie likes to describe herself as "Fun Size," like on the little candy bars.
Nina Hollander - Yes, it was an eventful week!
George Souto - I wouldn't have minded taking that skunk job on, had I been secure with the fact I could have comfortable maneuvered around in the crawl space! Macie doesn't scare easily.
Kathy Streib - To add to your vision about that rat - It's paper light, surprisingly!
Roy Kelley - I think I'm ready for a vacation! I wish I didn't need to wait for next year (or after a vaccine) for it to happen!
Brian England - Yes, very proud!
Endre Barath, Jr. - Yes, being able to smell it, as bad as it was, was something to be grateful for!
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Endre Barath, Jr.
Beverly Hills, CA
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Brian England
Gilbert, AZ
Curtis Van Carter - I often have raccoons and possums at my home. I usually trap them out on my patio in a critter friendly trap, and then I release them near the American River. However, I have no idea what I would have done had I trapped a live skunk! I'd rather deal with a dead one under my house than that!
Sheri Sperry - MCNE® - Thanks for making extra effort to visit my blog. I am feeling a lot of the same frustration you are about the functionality and lack of speed with AR this morning. Hopefully, one day, the Gods of AR will awaken and shine blessing on us all!
Myrl
They release possums here but unfortunately, raccoons are are not so humane matter. They are creatures of habits and tend to repeat their havoc. cheers cvc
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Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
I always enjoy staying busy, I get things done and it feels great...
Happy Monday morning, Myrl Jeffcoat
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