Pepe le Pew

I have always loved camping. I don't think I camped once last year, so I took advantage of the beautiful weather and headed up to Garden Valley this weekend. I typically stay at a free campsite just along the river, but Jen & Jessica wanted a campsite with toilets, so I found a new place to stay this time. The campsite was actually really nice - it was right next to Starlight Mountain Theater and there was a pretty big with a picnic table, fire pit, and trees all around us. I was pretty proud of how quickly I started the campfire. As we sat around the fire, though, we heard a rustling. I thought someone from the next campsite over was coming through our trees. We shined our flashlights in the direction of the rustling and guess what we saw - a SKUNK!!! Yuck! As our lights hit it, it ran in the other direction, but I was still kind of freaked. I did NOT want to get sprayed by a skunk! I think that would be one of the grossest things ever. We kept hearing the rustling, and a little later saw it venture into our campsite again! My flashlight reflected off its beady little eyes, and it retreated back into the bushes. I was paranoid the entire night that it would come up and spray us. We had all sorts of questions about skunks, so I came home and researched :-) Here are a couple interesting facts I learned:

* Skunks are omnivorous, but in settled areas will seek out human garbage. Jen said she heard rustling around our tent after we went to bed. Good thing we hung our garbage bag up in a tree!
* They are solitary animals when they aren't breeding, but they sometimes gather together in communal dens when it's colder. I'm glad breeding happens in early spring. We were worried there was a whole den of skunks living by our campsite.
* Skunks are reluctant to spray. They will typically hiss and stamp their feet before spraying - they only have enough chemical in their bodies for 5-6 sprays and it takes 10 days to produce another supply. They usually only spray as a defensive weapon.
* They have an excellent sense of smell and hearing, but horrible eyesight. They can't see more than 3 meters away. So maybe we can use the excuse that the skunk couldn't see us, but I am sure he could hear us talking!

Anyway, looks like we were probably safe from getting sprayed by the skunk, but I was still nervous all night until I was safely zipped in my tent! Needless to say, we nicknamed our campsite Camp Pepe le Pew :-)