As Program Council ended last night, Ann Marie Damashek went to drop something off in the main office.  I'm glad she is a calm soul and able to bring back the news in a rational manner:  there was a skunk walking around the church office.  She had shut the office door so that we would know where it was.   Now how many UUs does it take to get a skunk out of a building, without leaving its scent behind?

Six of us got busy building a pathway to the outdoors with card tables on their sides.  Meanwhile Mr. (or Ms.) Skunk curled up and went to sleep under our administrator's desk.  Louise Jacono is the consumate animal lover in the building; the skunk sensed the good vibes around her desk and wanted to stay.

We waited.  We watched.  We let out modest bursts of noise (not wanting to scare him into spraying), experimented with lights on and lights off, put out some old carrots found in the corner of a refrigerator.  The skunk ignored it all.

A subcommittee made calls to wildlife control companies found on-line and in the phone book, but few of them even answered the phone at 10 at night.  Finally John Schwam (praise his name!) called a fire department friend and got the number of an animal trapper named Steve.  Steve appeared 10 minutes later.  He went into the office, crouched down next to the desk, stayed there for 7 or 8 minutes, and then emerged, carrying the skunk by the base of its tail.  No question about it:  we know the identity of the Skunk Whisperer.

Mr. (or Ms.) Skunk returned to our outdoor property, like the deer who came in to look around the sanctuary on a summer afternoon about 10 years ago.  We truly enjoy the company of these creatures.  But we prefer to have them outside.