--- Ross Sauer <archae_at_charter.net> wrote:
> Unfortunatly skunks are illegal to keep as pets in all
> but three states here.
>
> Same with foxes, raccoons and any other animal you would
> be willing totame.
>
> Reply:
> Raccoons and skunks are also prone to rabies.
>
> Just look at Lori. <G>
There is a joke about that in the Ups and Downs comic
(always reminds me of my 4X4's licence plate UPNDWN), where
the racoon is brushing her teeth and Tom mistakes her for
being rabid.
In Australia, most of the interesting animals are illegal
to keep, as there are some very nice ones that would
probably do well as pets.
I encountered a skunk while camping near White City, New
Mexico. Never having seen one in the wild before, I was
curious. The tour guide I was with got all panicky about
me making it angry and getting sprayed - his hype was far
worse than reality as I've watched far nastier creatures
before. I stayed quiet, kept a sensible distance and
watched the striped mephitidae wander around - looking for
somewhere dry to avoid the approaching storm. In the
desert areas, that doesn't leave a huge choice. I took a
few photos and let it be.
Later that evening, some of the girls reported an invasion
in the toilets. Turned out the skunk had decided dry and
warm inside brick amenities looked like a good option.
Some of the girls were choosing to brave using the guys'
facilites as opposed to negotiating the skunk - allegedly
guys do not smell as bad as skunks can... Got to take a
few more pictures in an illuminated surround - how
considerate of the skunk to come into the light! :-) By
morning it had wandered off again, so no further issue.
In Australia, we don't have any members of the mephitidae
or mustelid family. We do have echidnas - a compact
version of a porcupine with a long slim nose - spiny
anteater to use the common description. Why do I mention
echidnas? A few years ago while camping, I saw one on the
road, so stopped and decided to shoo the slow-moving
echidna off the tar-mac before it became street-pizza. It
wasn't in a hurry, so the bloke I was with gingerly picked
it up (they are quite prickly!) and it defensively rolled
into a ball - armadillo style. That makes the spines
bristle and far less pleasant to handle. My mate carefully
turned the echidna upside-down so we could have a look at
it and was very fortunate to avoid being sprayed! They are
able to shoot an oily, foul smelling liquid from their
rectum area in a long stream - at least 4 feet! Missed my
mate, but hit the car windscreen - took many washes,
including metho, to remove the oil mark from the glass!
Scrapper, Black Dragon, who unfortunately recently proved
that 2.5 tonnes of 4x4 travelling through the outback at
speed don't feel running over objects as large as feral
goats going under the tyres.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Want to start your own business?
Learn how on Yahoo! Small Business.
http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/r-index
Received on Mon Dec 04 2006 - 17:50:33 CST