Skunk Visit

I had blissfully fallen asleep under my comfy duvet… and was probably an hour into it. I woke in the night to an alarmed, high-pitched “Mara, there’s something out there, and it sounds big!”  coming from the other tent. My first thought was “well, there are no bears around here”  That’s the main animal I have fear of.  

I fumbled around in the moonlight, found my glasses, looked out through the screen window, and discovered what the munching & crunching noises were. And how close they were to my face. A skunk had managed to find some empty peanut shells the previous occupants had left behind. Since I’d decided to sleep with a star-gazing view, there was only a screen between me  and that skunk. You might say I had a front-row seat.

Silence was my only possible answer at first, until I gathered my wits and found my voice. Then there was another “Mary, are you out there?” Her tone intimated that she strongly suspected whatever was out there had already “gotten” me.

I managed to answer in what I hoped was a non-alarming, non-threatening (to the skunk) voice. Slowly, matter-of-factly and in loud clear monotone, I smoothed out something like this:

“ Well-Shannon-I-think-what-we-have-here-is-a-skunk-about-two-feet-away-and-I-don’t-think-you-should-open-your-tent-flap-and-I’m-afraid-to-talk-too-much-because-I-don’t-want-the-skunk-to-notice-me-so-I-don’t-think-we-should-do-anything-because-what-could-we-do-anyway-and-if-it-doesn’t-feel-threatened-maybe-it-will-go-away-on its-own”.

I wanted to make sure she got the whole message in one shot, so I wouldn’t have to talk again, and draw that skunk’s attention. I also hoped I was somehow projecting my voice out-ward so the skunk might think it was coming from the woods, or the sky or any where but my tent”

She didn’t get the message.

“I wish I could see it. What should we do?”

Great!, Another question.

“Yes, I’m alright…and..nothing. Absolutely nothing but wait…quietly”  was my answer.

The skunk snuffled along the ground for a while, then, loosing interest in our meager offerings, wandered on his way. Once we were sure the skunk was definitely gone, we were all up and out; bravely scouring the area with flashlights and reminiscing about this latest adventure.

After that night; most tents I have bought have got two doors. An escape-route is a must.