texasjohn
Super Member
I posted this once, long ago... here is one of my skunk experiences:
Long ago I was a Junior at Uvalde High School and living on the Stoner Ranch 25 miles outside of Uvalde, Texas.
My grandfather and grandmother Stoner were still alive and residing on the place. I was headquartered at the 途ock house and had the run of the place, a couple thousand acres, hunting and fishing in all my spare time. My companion was a border collie dog, 鉄nip, that had been given to me by my uncle Red Stoner. She was almost 2 years old and I had spent a lot of time with her. She had the natural herding instinct of the breed and was taking direction very well. I had been working with her on verbal herding directions and she took directions to stop, creep up, back off, go right, go left, etc very well. We herded sheep, goats, cats, the usual.
She also loved to hunt lots of heart with a good nose and I now realize she was an excellent coon dog. She could find, follow, and tree coons, ringtails, possums. On command she would wade into them and dispatch them quickly seldom getting injured herself.
We understood each other when it came to hunting critters. She also understood �ole cats because we ran across our share of them and she had gained experience by getting sprayed so that she kept her distance unless I asked her to dispatch the critter. I had gotten past the excitement of doing this because she would get sprayed (a long time in passing) and could get rabies if bitten. So, she simply located them and allowed me to dispatch them with my octagon barrel 途anger 22 pump rifle that dad had gotten when he was in high school. My research says it came from Sears, and I have never seen another like it. Open sights, super accuracy, hard hitting with Long Rifle shells. I still have it and it still works.
One warm sunny afternoon about 6PM, just before chores, I heard my dog barking in the open space in front of the Rock House. Experience told me she had located something and I picked up my gun and went to investigate. It was a pole cat. He was in the open with no place to hide just low cactus scattered around. It being late, it was natural for it to be out hunting, although we more frequently ran across them after dark. It appeared healthy and fully alert.
<b>Sometimes, my mind is always working?/b>
I noticed that Snip had not distressed this pole cat sufficiently to get him to spray. Actually, he was facing the dog and not yet in a fully defensive posture tail to the dog however, the tail was raised somewhat. As I approached the pole cat, it occurred to me that the location was ideal for an experiment Snip had lots of maneuvering room and the pole cat didn稚 know I was anywhere around since his attention was on the dog which was on the other side of the pole cat from me.
I began giving Snip herding directions, just for fun, to see how well a pole cat could be moved around. After a few commands for right, left, come up, etc I discovered that the pole cat would continue facing the dog while backing up to re-establish a �ole cat comfort distance from the dog. This brought the pole cat still closer to me.
Now, in those days I was willing to try new things. My fellow male bus mates who rode the bus to and from school with me had once told me a æ–—ittle known fact about pole cats. I considered it hogwash, much of that they said was bull, bluster, or puffery. There was just enough veracity in what we told each other that our conversations about ranch life and lore on the bus stayed interesting.
Their sworn word was that a pole cat could only spray if he hiked his tail at a 90 degree angle to his back bone. Well, I had never seen a pole cat spray without raising his tail, but figured this was simply because itç—´ not effective to seek to spray through bushy tail hair.
Then, it hit me.
If I could stand still and make like a bush , then maybe, just maybe, I could direct the dog in such a way that the pole cat would back up all the way to me, all the while watching the dog and not worrying about its immobile surroundings. Then all I would have to do is to bend down, grasp the raised tail at arms length while making sure that it could neither bite my leg when I raised it off the ground nor spray more than just my hand. That is, if it sprayed at all. Surely, I could de-stink a hand!
It might work and, if it did, without spraying, then I壇 have bragging rights on the school bus . It would be a balancing act. The dog would have to take direction properly and not push the pole cat into spraying. Or into me. I thought about this. What would happen if I just got the tip of the tail and it broke while I lifted it.. or if I just got a handful of hair this would leave a very upset pole cat right at my feet! This had to be a �irst time final effort. If I missed I still had a pissed pole cat within close spraying distance. This would not make for a pleasant trip back to the house.
In case you have never been really, really, really close to fresh pole cat spray, let me tell you that it is unimaginably difficult to take Recently I saw a å…¸op 10 most smelly animals show as I recall, the pole cat was number one. Nausea is just the beginning.
All this I knew and yet, the lure of adventure was strong in my adolescent adrenalin? And it was beginning to get going The hunting nature of man was coming out. There would be no sport in shooting the critter where it stood about 50 feet away. I could plug a jack rabbit in the head at 50 yards with that 22 rifle. No sport at all. Yet, my code was to dispatch all pole cats because of the risk of rabies that they could give to our ranch animals.
So, a plan emerged. I would attempt the �ole cat snatch if and only if all conditions were right. The options were: wait, abort, snatch, or run like heck if he spotted me and I felt he was going to spray me. I only had to cover about 10 feet to get out of range. Just a few strides. Of course, since he would be 殿imed in my direction, this might be difficult to detect until too late. If I needed a diversion to effect an escape, my plan was to sacrifice my noble dog and give Snip direction to attack. Then there was the matter of the grab itself. I planned to grab the tail 1 inch above the spine and to get a good grip. Experience told me that a pole cat tail is not very large under all that hair, about the size of a number 2 pencil, and I壇 have to hold tight. It wouldn稚 do to have it rotate in my hand and drop to the ground because of a poor grip.
Then, there was the matter of the arc of the grab itself. Normally one grabs something and pulls it toward the chest. Hmm not a good plan to have a pole cat close enough to be able to grab my shirt with its front feet and start clawing up my shirt toward my chin nope. The only solution I could think of involved even more risk. The pole cat would have to be very, very close I didn稚 want to have to reach way out, lose my balance, and fall face down on the critter. I mean, there were rocks and cactus all around. It could be painful. The solution was to wait until the critter was right at my feet maybe 4 inches away? Then pick him up in a grab that would move him away from my body and hold him at shoulder height. If things didn稚 go as planned a poor grab, hair pulls out, tail breaks, whatever then the critter would already be on a trajectory away from me and I could boost him in that direction as much as possible, turn lose and run in the opposite direction. If it worked, then I壇 have a firm grip on the tail, he would be looking into my eyes, unable to reach me, orifice of concern would be pointed away, and I壇 have good balance.
What should I do with my gun? Well, this wasn稚 going to be a 2 handed grab they don稚 weigh that much. I considered putting it on the ground, but if I needed to make a quick get away it would make an obstacle that I didn稚 want to worry about. I loved that gun and never abused it. Also, it might come in handy in some way if things went wrong. So, I decided to hold it in my left hand and grab with my right hand only since I am right handed.
The plan was coming together! And, all in the space of maybe 2 breaths. I was a fast thinker back then! I was proud. I had thought of everything!
And so, it began. It was a thing of beauty to behold. Snip performed flawlessly and in maybe 15 moves the pole cat backed up the intervening 50 feet and was at my very feet while remaining focused intently on the dog. He hadn稚 shot his wad yet. My �ole cat snatch was executed perfectly as planned and I was seeing my reflection in his black beady eyes at arm痴 length. The good news was that he seemed incapable of curling back up on himself and thus getting to my firm hand hold on his tail. So far, so good. I noticed that my eyes were not stinging and chanced a breath all was well! Only the residual skunk aroma nothing really fresh. He twisted a few times then simply hung there I had everything under control.
My school bus buddies were right! Hanging there his tail and backbone were as straight as a pencil. A pole cat can稚 stink unless the tail is up. Then, Snip came right up to me and barked proudly, having �reed the critter.
Then, I realized that perhaps my plan was a little incomplete? What now?
Well, obviously, if you catch a pole cat in the pasture and nobody else is there to see it well, it can稚 be proven. So, there was only one solution.
<b>I walked the 100 yards back to the Rock House holding my prize at armç—´ length. I went thru the gate and into the house since I could not get the attention of my aging grandmother. She was 途esting her eyes in the easy chair in the front room. Yep, she observed the event and clearly understood the import. I had my witness but she didn稚 agree that I had everything under control! I also received a clear and certain ultimatum to å*µet that thing outta here!廿/b>
I took it out to the front yard and we discussed the situation for a while she was a little heated about it but I had long ago learned that if I remained calm then she, too, would calm down sooner or later? And another plan emerged. She brought a large metal Crisco lard can out of the house along with its lid. The gun had by now been properly placed and I had one free hand. I set the can on the ground, grasped the lid in my free hand, and plunked the distraught pole cat head down into the can. I managed to get the lid on the can without getting the tail caught on the rim. And, the lard can lid sealed the critter inside.
Relief! I hadn稚 realized how tired my right arm had become from holding the critter at arm痴 length for maybe 15 minutes but it felt good to get the lid on and not be all stunk with skunk . Then, a great fear hit me. I still didn稚 smell the pole cat. What if this was the one in a million that didn稚 stink? Or maybe it had already used all its stink earlier that day maybe all this had actually proven nothing If it didn稚 stink now, then it couldn稚 stink and my prowess was all for naught.
<b>About that time my grandfather drove up to pick me up for the evening chores. From long experience he determined that my grandmother was really agitated. As she described how she had been 途esting my eyes and 笛ohn brought a pole cat into the house, the twinkle in his eyes became brilliant and his grin uncontrollable. 展ell, where is it now? I pointed to the shiny can at my feet. 展hat are you going to do with it?廿/b>
Well, that same question was actually weighing on me at that moment. I admitted that I didn稚 have a disposal plan.
展hy don稚 you take it outside the yard and use it for target practice? Was his practical query. Relieved that a plan had emerged, I did just that? And discovered that a Crisco lard can lid is air tight. As soon as the metal membrane was punctured by the first bullet there remained no doubt that the pole cat was, in fact, capable of making his fragrant essence known.
I will admit that, having perfected the �ole cat snatch the first time, I have not seen a need to repeat it!
And, thatç—´ the truth!
By the way like Myth Busters always says don稚 try this. I知 an expert and know what I知 doing!!
YPCSMV (Your Pole Cat Snatch May Vary)
Long ago I was a Junior at Uvalde High School and living on the Stoner Ranch 25 miles outside of Uvalde, Texas.
My grandfather and grandmother Stoner were still alive and residing on the place. I was headquartered at the 途ock house and had the run of the place, a couple thousand acres, hunting and fishing in all my spare time. My companion was a border collie dog, 鉄nip, that had been given to me by my uncle Red Stoner. She was almost 2 years old and I had spent a lot of time with her. She had the natural herding instinct of the breed and was taking direction very well. I had been working with her on verbal herding directions and she took directions to stop, creep up, back off, go right, go left, etc very well. We herded sheep, goats, cats, the usual.
She also loved to hunt lots of heart with a good nose and I now realize she was an excellent coon dog. She could find, follow, and tree coons, ringtails, possums. On command she would wade into them and dispatch them quickly seldom getting injured herself.
We understood each other when it came to hunting critters. She also understood �ole cats because we ran across our share of them and she had gained experience by getting sprayed so that she kept her distance unless I asked her to dispatch the critter. I had gotten past the excitement of doing this because she would get sprayed (a long time in passing) and could get rabies if bitten. So, she simply located them and allowed me to dispatch them with my octagon barrel 途anger 22 pump rifle that dad had gotten when he was in high school. My research says it came from Sears, and I have never seen another like it. Open sights, super accuracy, hard hitting with Long Rifle shells. I still have it and it still works.
One warm sunny afternoon about 6PM, just before chores, I heard my dog barking in the open space in front of the Rock House. Experience told me she had located something and I picked up my gun and went to investigate. It was a pole cat. He was in the open with no place to hide just low cactus scattered around. It being late, it was natural for it to be out hunting, although we more frequently ran across them after dark. It appeared healthy and fully alert.
<b>Sometimes, my mind is always working?/b>
I noticed that Snip had not distressed this pole cat sufficiently to get him to spray. Actually, he was facing the dog and not yet in a fully defensive posture tail to the dog however, the tail was raised somewhat. As I approached the pole cat, it occurred to me that the location was ideal for an experiment Snip had lots of maneuvering room and the pole cat didn稚 know I was anywhere around since his attention was on the dog which was on the other side of the pole cat from me.
I began giving Snip herding directions, just for fun, to see how well a pole cat could be moved around. After a few commands for right, left, come up, etc I discovered that the pole cat would continue facing the dog while backing up to re-establish a �ole cat comfort distance from the dog. This brought the pole cat still closer to me.
Now, in those days I was willing to try new things. My fellow male bus mates who rode the bus to and from school with me had once told me a æ–—ittle known fact about pole cats. I considered it hogwash, much of that they said was bull, bluster, or puffery. There was just enough veracity in what we told each other that our conversations about ranch life and lore on the bus stayed interesting.
Their sworn word was that a pole cat could only spray if he hiked his tail at a 90 degree angle to his back bone. Well, I had never seen a pole cat spray without raising his tail, but figured this was simply because itç—´ not effective to seek to spray through bushy tail hair.
Then, it hit me.
If I could stand still and make like a bush , then maybe, just maybe, I could direct the dog in such a way that the pole cat would back up all the way to me, all the while watching the dog and not worrying about its immobile surroundings. Then all I would have to do is to bend down, grasp the raised tail at arms length while making sure that it could neither bite my leg when I raised it off the ground nor spray more than just my hand. That is, if it sprayed at all. Surely, I could de-stink a hand!
It might work and, if it did, without spraying, then I壇 have bragging rights on the school bus . It would be a balancing act. The dog would have to take direction properly and not push the pole cat into spraying. Or into me. I thought about this. What would happen if I just got the tip of the tail and it broke while I lifted it.. or if I just got a handful of hair this would leave a very upset pole cat right at my feet! This had to be a �irst time final effort. If I missed I still had a pissed pole cat within close spraying distance. This would not make for a pleasant trip back to the house.
In case you have never been really, really, really close to fresh pole cat spray, let me tell you that it is unimaginably difficult to take Recently I saw a å…¸op 10 most smelly animals show as I recall, the pole cat was number one. Nausea is just the beginning.
All this I knew and yet, the lure of adventure was strong in my adolescent adrenalin? And it was beginning to get going The hunting nature of man was coming out. There would be no sport in shooting the critter where it stood about 50 feet away. I could plug a jack rabbit in the head at 50 yards with that 22 rifle. No sport at all. Yet, my code was to dispatch all pole cats because of the risk of rabies that they could give to our ranch animals.
So, a plan emerged. I would attempt the �ole cat snatch if and only if all conditions were right. The options were: wait, abort, snatch, or run like heck if he spotted me and I felt he was going to spray me. I only had to cover about 10 feet to get out of range. Just a few strides. Of course, since he would be 殿imed in my direction, this might be difficult to detect until too late. If I needed a diversion to effect an escape, my plan was to sacrifice my noble dog and give Snip direction to attack. Then there was the matter of the grab itself. I planned to grab the tail 1 inch above the spine and to get a good grip. Experience told me that a pole cat tail is not very large under all that hair, about the size of a number 2 pencil, and I壇 have to hold tight. It wouldn稚 do to have it rotate in my hand and drop to the ground because of a poor grip.
Then, there was the matter of the arc of the grab itself. Normally one grabs something and pulls it toward the chest. Hmm not a good plan to have a pole cat close enough to be able to grab my shirt with its front feet and start clawing up my shirt toward my chin nope. The only solution I could think of involved even more risk. The pole cat would have to be very, very close I didn稚 want to have to reach way out, lose my balance, and fall face down on the critter. I mean, there were rocks and cactus all around. It could be painful. The solution was to wait until the critter was right at my feet maybe 4 inches away? Then pick him up in a grab that would move him away from my body and hold him at shoulder height. If things didn稚 go as planned a poor grab, hair pulls out, tail breaks, whatever then the critter would already be on a trajectory away from me and I could boost him in that direction as much as possible, turn lose and run in the opposite direction. If it worked, then I壇 have a firm grip on the tail, he would be looking into my eyes, unable to reach me, orifice of concern would be pointed away, and I壇 have good balance.
What should I do with my gun? Well, this wasn稚 going to be a 2 handed grab they don稚 weigh that much. I considered putting it on the ground, but if I needed to make a quick get away it would make an obstacle that I didn稚 want to worry about. I loved that gun and never abused it. Also, it might come in handy in some way if things went wrong. So, I decided to hold it in my left hand and grab with my right hand only since I am right handed.
The plan was coming together! And, all in the space of maybe 2 breaths. I was a fast thinker back then! I was proud. I had thought of everything!
And so, it began. It was a thing of beauty to behold. Snip performed flawlessly and in maybe 15 moves the pole cat backed up the intervening 50 feet and was at my very feet while remaining focused intently on the dog. He hadn稚 shot his wad yet. My �ole cat snatch was executed perfectly as planned and I was seeing my reflection in his black beady eyes at arm痴 length. The good news was that he seemed incapable of curling back up on himself and thus getting to my firm hand hold on his tail. So far, so good. I noticed that my eyes were not stinging and chanced a breath all was well! Only the residual skunk aroma nothing really fresh. He twisted a few times then simply hung there I had everything under control.
My school bus buddies were right! Hanging there his tail and backbone were as straight as a pencil. A pole cat can稚 stink unless the tail is up. Then, Snip came right up to me and barked proudly, having �reed the critter.
Then, I realized that perhaps my plan was a little incomplete? What now?
Well, obviously, if you catch a pole cat in the pasture and nobody else is there to see it well, it can稚 be proven. So, there was only one solution.
<b>I walked the 100 yards back to the Rock House holding my prize at armç—´ length. I went thru the gate and into the house since I could not get the attention of my aging grandmother. She was 途esting her eyes in the easy chair in the front room. Yep, she observed the event and clearly understood the import. I had my witness but she didn稚 agree that I had everything under control! I also received a clear and certain ultimatum to å*µet that thing outta here!廿/b>
I took it out to the front yard and we discussed the situation for a while she was a little heated about it but I had long ago learned that if I remained calm then she, too, would calm down sooner or later? And another plan emerged. She brought a large metal Crisco lard can out of the house along with its lid. The gun had by now been properly placed and I had one free hand. I set the can on the ground, grasped the lid in my free hand, and plunked the distraught pole cat head down into the can. I managed to get the lid on the can without getting the tail caught on the rim. And, the lard can lid sealed the critter inside.
Relief! I hadn稚 realized how tired my right arm had become from holding the critter at arm痴 length for maybe 15 minutes but it felt good to get the lid on and not be all stunk with skunk . Then, a great fear hit me. I still didn稚 smell the pole cat. What if this was the one in a million that didn稚 stink? Or maybe it had already used all its stink earlier that day maybe all this had actually proven nothing If it didn稚 stink now, then it couldn稚 stink and my prowess was all for naught.
<b>About that time my grandfather drove up to pick me up for the evening chores. From long experience he determined that my grandmother was really agitated. As she described how she had been 途esting my eyes and 笛ohn brought a pole cat into the house, the twinkle in his eyes became brilliant and his grin uncontrollable. 展ell, where is it now? I pointed to the shiny can at my feet. 展hat are you going to do with it?廿/b>
Well, that same question was actually weighing on me at that moment. I admitted that I didn稚 have a disposal plan.
展hy don稚 you take it outside the yard and use it for target practice? Was his practical query. Relieved that a plan had emerged, I did just that? And discovered that a Crisco lard can lid is air tight. As soon as the metal membrane was punctured by the first bullet there remained no doubt that the pole cat was, in fact, capable of making his fragrant essence known.
I will admit that, having perfected the �ole cat snatch the first time, I have not seen a need to repeat it!
And, thatç—´ the truth!
By the way like Myth Busters always says don稚 try this. I知 an expert and know what I知 doing!!
YPCSMV (Your Pole Cat Snatch May Vary)
