Last night Buddy, my livestock guardian dog, was released from the yard. We do this almost every night so that he can get some exercise and scour the area for any wild critters before we go to bed at night. This usually cuts down on the all night bark fest that Great Pyrenees dogs practice. One of the wild critters that is fairly common around here is the skunk. You can just about guess the rest of my story.

I saw Buddy rolling around, all four feet up in the air, having a great old time. I went to let him back in the yard and immediately got smacked in the nose with the overwhelming aroma of skunk. Then I saw Buddy jump up and grab a black something and fling it up in the air! Oh my gosh! Gross, gross, gross! I thought he killed the skunk and was playing with the dead animal. He dropped it when I went out so I let him in the yard and then went to investigate. It was only the skunk's tail! Gross again!

Holding my breath as best I could, I put the tail in a plastic bag and placed it in the garbage. I don't know if Buddy killed the skunk or just played with the remains. He smells to high heaven either way! But not as bad as last year when he encountered a live skunk and got sprayed straight in the face and chest. Luckily for me, I wasn't here last year when it happened. Steve was and had to clean him up! Yukky job! I don't think I will have to bathe Buddy or anything this time. The smell has dissipated a great deal this morning, but also our weather is supposed to change drastically tonight. I don't want a wet dog having to deal with freezing temps and cold rain. So we will all have to endure and hope the stink goes away fairly quickly by itself!