Wild life

   I live in a 28 foot travel trailer with my Poodles.  At the moment it's about 20 degrees here in the Poconos but I'm warm looking out my big picture window.  The campground is basically empty this time of year so my view is unobstructed.  There's about three feet of snow still on the ground, hundreds of bare trees and a green wood chipper.  No, that is not a rare bird, it's a piece of machinery that's parked on the lot next to mine.  We have lots of wildlife though.  Regular visits from several deer who eat the corn, bread, and birdseed  my neighbor and I scatter daily.  Birds of every size and color.  Two feral cats who get into my trash on a regular basis.  And we can't forget the skunks.  They have been scarce this winter.  Maybe it's a sign that spring is coming but last night two of my pups found one.  I had just come home from my winter job at the ski resort.  It was 10:30 at night and after our usual "Mommy you've been gone forever" snuggle, I opened the door and out they ran.  It wasn't a minute later when I smelled it.  Liza came running to me and I breathed a sigh of relief as I picked her up.  One down two to go.  Cricket was next and sure enough the strong smell of skunk was on her muzzle.  I put her in the sink for a quick face wash with dish soap, toweled her off and called for Gable.  Gabe is a big dog, so I don't worry about him as much.  He's not likely to be carried off by a fox or bird of prey.  He is likely to terrorize any small animal he can find.  I have no doubt that he deserved it but that skunk got him good.  The smell was burning my eyes, I can only imagine how it affected him.  He was rubbing his face in the snow doing all that he could to make it go away.  He came in and dived into the recliner.  I grabbed him and tried my best to clean him up.   I won't say that I didn't smell it anymore but it was at least bearable.   I felt bad that he couldn't understand why Mommy didn't want a kiss goodnight. 
  I went in to work this afternoon and stopped by the bosses office for a quick hello before heading into the lodge.  It wasn't five minutes later when she caught up with me.  " I'm sorry, I have to send you home".  "The entire office smells like skunk, I don't mean to offend you but you reek".   Needless to say, tomorrow will be a deep clean and laundry day.