I got a new toy! It’s a $30 trail cam that will probably cost $300 once the tariffs take effect, but I got it because I was curious about what has been going on in my back yard. There is a burrow under my deck, and every year we’re surprised by who takes up residence. Groundhogs are common, but one year we had a skunk under there.
I set the camera up to point directly at the hole, but you can’t see the burrow itself because of all the grass in the way. As expected, I knew there’d be squirrels and maybe rabbits hopping around, although the rabbits are currently in their shy phase, hiding with their litters of kits somewhere. We did spot a squirrel in the early evening (time stamp is correct, but I failed to set the date on the camera.)
All was quiet for most of the night, but then around 3AM something was popping it’s head up, multiple times, like they were repeatedly trying to figure out what that thing outside their front door was.
I’m not sure what that is. Maybe a skunk? Maybe an alien. I’d rather it were an alien visitor, because if it is a skunk I’ll need to set up a trap (a humane one, of course!) and relocate it later this summer.
Hmmm, I suppose if it is a small alien, I could also trap it. What kind of bait should I use? I think the last time we had a skunk, they were partial to cantaloupe.
Could be a weasel of a liberated ferret.
A mustelid.
a cutie
Skunk seems likely to my eyes. Certainly seems to be something mephitae or mustelid at the very least.
Yeah, that is a skunk. Not a mustelid like some others here claimed.
Pine marten or fisher perhaps.
@1
It is backed like a weasel.
But Shakespeare be damned, it’s probably a skunk.
CRAB PEOPLE! CRAB PEOPLE!
(if you know, you know)
You should create some kind of water feature, even a small pond will attract a lot of birds and small mammals. Set up a camera and be surprised by the diversity.
The small white stripe on its forehead leads me to believe it’s a skunk. I wouldn’t be too concerned, unless you freak it out somehow, and it sprays on you. I’ve got many small critters living on my property. There’s a family of opossums living in the small wood lot between my property and the neighbor’s. I leave out the rejected cat food and other scraps for them overnight. They keep the mice population down. Maybe you should feed it and allow it to become part of the family.
Reginald Selkirk @7
An upstart crow, perhaps?
OTish Perhaps people here with more literary depth than I can help: on and off since 1983-ish I’ve been trying to track down the title/author of a French dadaist play I did the theatre tech for: solely because it has the lines (in french) which translates, roughly, as
“It is backed like a weasel.”, “Or like a whale?”, “Very like a whale.”,”Or perhaps a balloon”
etc
the dadaist joke being (apparently) that, in French, “whale” (Balleine) and “balloon” (ballon) sound similar. Continually annoying I can’t pin it down.
The overall shape of the head and shoulders, combined with the white stripe between the eyes, really looks like a striped skunk to me.
Pepe’ LePew
It’s well known that aliens are interested in acquiring all of Earth’s ammonia.
Yup, skunk, 100%, like others have said.
As for bait, I once dissected a road-kill skunk (I wanted the skull, and as long as I was enduring the now totally-emptied-scent-glands-experience, I wanted to check the gut contents, per usual).
The gut, from one end to the other, was full of yellow-jackets. They must be real tasty.
Good luck finding some and keeping them in a trap. Maybe any paper wasp nest with larvae?
Or peanut butter. Skunks are kind of like dogs. They’ll eat most anything. Especially high protein stuff.
“Skunks are kind of like dogs.”
So, cat turds.
Needs a boop.
If its an alien you might need to leave out an internet connected device so it can chat to its friends.
For aliens I believe you’re supposed to use M&M’s, or else Reese’s Pieces if Mars won’t license you to use M&M’s.
I think you’ve got a meerkat there.
You realize all you have to do to get revenge on Evil Cat is paint a white stripe down its back and set it outside at night? I know this because I had a rounded education.
Easy mistake. Skunks were considered part of the mustelid family until the 1990’s.