We Have A Kitty!

It's a cute little thing.
Black and white, like Patches and Wiggins, but more black than white.
Arrival - last Friday morning.
Name - Pepe
Oh, wait. Were you were thinking I meant "cat"?
Well, then, you'd be meowing up the wrong tree.

Take a peek. It's curled up in a ball against the window well.

Awwww.

SIDEBAR: See the screen partially buried under the rocks? A few weeks ago I'd noticed several holes in all three basement window screens along the north side of the house. Later, while mowing the lawn I stopped to investigate from the outside and saw a mouse scurry from the screen (caught in the act!) and disappear into the dirt where the house foundation and window well meet. Back inside, the screens were removed and set upright inside the wells for later removal (too dirty and buggy to bring through the house!) but, well.... never got them out of the well. So, seeing the screen laying on the floor of this well and covered with a lot of rocks was amazing... considering the small size of this guy. At first glance it looked like he'd been trying to aerate the rocks, but since skunks like to burrow I guess he moved a lot of rock looking for an exit or safe place to hide.

BACK TO OUR KITTY: Friday morning I could smell a very strong skunk odor and wondered if a neighbor's dog had stirred up a critter or even if one of Christine's cat's had an unfriendly encounter. Friday night while laying in bed I could hear noises (similar to the just fledged baby robin, too young to fly, that got stuck in another window well 2 weeks ago) but the noise stopped while searching for it. Didn't give it another thought until Saturday night when the noises started again. This time when I opened the blinds of the basement east bedroom there was one surprised baby skunk. He (why not tag it as 'he'?!) was so funny when those blinds came up -- popped over on his face with his tail over his back and "assumed the position" for attack. Then he'd spin around a few times and do it again. Fortunately there was no odor, he'd either run out after Friday morning's 'spew' or maybe too dehydrated to create more. Whatever... decided there wasn't much I could do until daylight and gave me the rest of the night to ponder on options.

So, Sunday morning when I check he was in his sleeping mode (2 pictures above) but no amount of window tapping got him to move. Last resort was opening the window slightly and slam it shut. That did the trick. Tail over back, he centered himself in the middle of the well and "assumed the position" again.

So funny, but he must have been tired (okay, they are nocturnal critters) and ...
he soon wandered back to his preferred sleeping spot...

and curled up to snooze some more.

During a bad windstorm several weeks ago a branch broke off the scrub oak in the back yard and I thought it might be just long enough to put in the well and hopefully Pepe (I'd now named him after the 1960's cartoon character Pepe Le Pew) would use it to climb out. Here it is Sunday morning, and I'm dressed and on my way to church dragging a dead limb around and trying to arrange it in a window well at the same time hoping to not get skunked.

.

Checked after church and nothing had changed. Maybe he'd wait to make his move until night? but also worried the brittle scrub oak branch would break during the Great Skunk Escape so called the Eichert's where Jacob had recently trimmed some branches off the cherry tree. Later in the evening Jacob brought over a thicker, stronger, longer stick of wood and added it to the oak branch.

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Little Pepe had quite an audience. Mom had come out to check on him; Jacob had fun watching him; and Christine, seeing the party over here, wandered across the street with camera for her 'picture of the day' book. Poor Pepe. All he wanted to do was sleep. Oh, then there's Tony the cat who was VERY curious about the critter down in the window well--Jacob took him home!

.

This morning when I checked the only things in the window well were branches from a cherry and oak tree. Voila! No Pepe, but it would have been interesting to see him figure out his way 'out.'

Which limb/branch/twig option do you think he took?

As for the cartoon Pepe Le Pew, some of you may remember he considered himself a great ladies man. Found this YouTube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRCtcZPSrU8 compiling some Pepe moments to Elton John and Kiki Dee's "Don't Go Breakin My Heart." Quality isn't the best but it's fun.

P.S. Sharlyn's comment has reminded me what else I forgot to include. #1. backup plan if tree limbs didn't provide escape route was to use a spare window screen stored in the garage which was narrower and taller than the window well with the hope that screen would provide enough traction for skunk claws. #2. I did remember that Sharlyn had blogged about a skunk in their window well last year but didn't get a chance to read it until after I got to work this morning. Ahhh, I chuckled. If there's a next time... the screen will be the first option.