Skunk in a box

By Tom Peterson 

The Dalles Police Sergeant Josh Jones was at the end of his shift when he got the call at 7:01 Wednesday morning. 

“Skunk is trapped in a neighbor's backyard. There is a trap on his head. Caller is worried the skunk is going to spray.”

The animal was located in the yard of a home in the 100 block of W. 12th St. Its head was stuck in what looked to be a plastic air filter box for a vehicle.

“The poor guy called at 7:15 a.m., and he was going off shift. He watched over it until I could get there,” said Jean Cyphers, director of Rowena Wildlife Clinic. 

“It was in pretty good shape,” Cyphers said of the stripe tale. “Officer Jones was able to pry open the box. So, we had access to both sides of the skunk.”

“I poked his butt with some anesthesia. He had a bunch of folds of skin stuck in there (around his head).” she said. She applied a little lubricant.

“I pulled him out.”

It was a miraculous delivery.

No spray. 

“If they don’t see you, they don’t know where to aim,” Cyphers said. “You can cover their head with a towel and push their tale underneath them and they can’t spray.”

Cyphers said the only defense she had was a good plan. “A skunk is pretty small. Whoever died of being sprayed,” she added. 

On a side note, Cyphers said skunks are “good neighbors” in that they eat mice, keeping the rodent population down.

The Rowena Wildlife Clinic was founded in 2000 by Jean Cypher, DVM. Dr. Cypher, a 1991 graduate of Washington State University, envisions a network of charitable organizations along the Columbia River Gorge that can aid wild and domestic animals and foster friendly relations between the human community and their animal neighbors. All veterinarians at the Clinic are unpaid volunteers.

Donations can be made online.

No animals were injured in the writing of this story.

Skunk in a box.