Stinks to be an Orphaned Skunk

  The deluge that hit us has brought up numerous problems. Our yard is sprouting into a rainforest. Weeds have taken over everything and they are super-ginormous. If you sit quietly, you can hear them growing. Other than not being able to mow, things are stinky. Our septic system wafts in a delightful sewage smell every time the breeze blows and the chicken coop is moist inside which is way worse than wet dog smell but, yes, the dogs are wet, too. 

 All the water has flushed things out into the open as well. Our daughter hit a skunk right in front of our house. Now her car has the eternally lingering smell of rotting eggs and sour gym socks inside and out. She is banned from parking in the garage. And, she had to go straight to the shower. 

 That incident had a domino effect. While scoping out things in the yard, the hubby and I came across some black and white puffballs that were moving. Two baby skunks had been driven out of their underground den by the water. Their eyes were not open yet and they looked weak and pitiful. They. Were. So. Cute! 

Sorry, they snuggled up & wouldn't budge once I got my phone
but take my word for it - Super Cute!

 After my husband talked me down, I realized that we could not never no way take in baby skunks but they were so small and adorable! I spent the rest of the day giving myself a reality check with reminders about the baby duck horrors. Just to reinforce it, I googled which only confirmed why one should not keep baby skunks, as if a sane person needed more reasons. My goal then became finding a wildlife rehab because it was clear that their mother was not returning having had the unfortunate mishap of becoming acquainted with the tire of a small Toyota. She will never be forgotten because her scent remains with us. 

 I followed all the steps on the wildlife rescue site. Do not touch them. No problem. Leave the area for a while. Okay. Wait to see if mom returns. Nope. Check for signs of distress. Yep. Call wildlife rehab. Okay, I need a Plan B. I don't have a Plan B! Call a different place. After contacting several places, the plan collapsed. 

 Apparently, in Tennessee no one will take skunks. Skunks are on the rabies vector list. They all sounded very sympathetic but that was all they could do. So...

 I had to fight off every temptation not to go check on them every hour and not to put them in a box with a blanket. My husbands words became a chant, "We cannot keep skunks, we cannot keep skunks." So...

 They were the next day but not the day after and that was the end of that. Poor baby skunks. 

 The whole ordeal led me to think about how awful and skunk-like I was in my younger days with my eyes unopened. When God sent people to me in my most desperate times, I did not just lie in a weak, shivering huddle looking pitiful. I shook my fist, gnashed my teeth, and would have raised my tail if I had one. There was no cute-ness to redeem the threatening nature. Eventually, no one wanted to take me on. It was 100% pure skunk-ness spewing forth and yet God continued to work and one day, He just scooped me up because I was not going to come to Him of my own accord. It was lovely and divine when my eyes were opened and the best part is that He made me a new creature. The skunk was forever changed, no longer a rejected creature but a beloved one. 

 Now do not ask why occasionally I still act like a skunk, which is ridiculous, but God is working on that, too.

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. - 2 Corinthians 5:17