JBot Mania

So, they said not to leave the cat trap out at night because I might catch a raccoon. Well, I wasn’t catching anything else, so I said, “Hey, raccoons are cute too. I just want to catch something. Anything to make me feel like I am making any kind of progress on the Muff front.”

And wouldn’t you know it–I caught something. Here’s a little rendition of the creature.

Needless to say, when I woke up and saw this creature in my trap, I said, “Oh shit.”

I’m not crazy. I know that skunks are “cute” but only until they spray you and you forever have that skunk funk on you. I also knew, though, as a reasonably caring human being that I could not leave it in there until it somehow figured out how to grow opposable thumbs and/or died.

I went outside and took a better look at my catch. It was relatively small and yes, cute. I was careful when making my approach, however. There was also the faint odor of skunk spray. Do skunks run out of spray? I was not sure.

My little friend was staying pretty close to the end where I would have to release him. I wasn’t too keen on that idea. I turned to say hello to my neighbors who asked if I would keep it, after which, the animal had moved to the middle. I decided to approach slowly.

The problem with this situation is that the release maneuver is not exactly quick and clean. You have to unclamp something, do a little dance, etc. etc. I decided to stand a distance away and reach over to the cage so that I could hopefully, leap backward in the event that I saw any signs of tail raising.

My first attempt to unlock the trap was unsuccessful and the skunk showed its displeasure at my existence. It made a little squeak and, I believe, thumped its foot much like a rabbit.

I tried again with little success and then decided to go full boar on the unlocking process since the skunk seemed happy enough to thump and realized that I was actually helping it.

Once I got the trap unlocked, I stepped back again to give the skunk and I some breathing room. All the while, of course, I am talking to said skunk, explaining what I am doing. “I know honey, I don’t want you in there either.” or “I just need to unlock it and then I can let you go.”

I reached toward the cage again, raised the exit door and backed away. After a few seconds, the skunk figured it out and went about its merry way, a bit slowly. Hopefully he has not sprayed any of my neighbors… and I suppose I won’t leave the trap out at night anymore.