We have a skunk living on our property, and now he enters the horse paddock at night and eats out of Montana’s dinner bowl. We’ve been trying to fatten up Montana since he loses weight over the winter, so we give him a large bowl of grain each night. It usually takes him a couple hours to finish eating, and often he leaves food in his bowl. Elizabeth had told me about the skunk, but I finally spotted him. He was eating out of the food bowl right next to Montana’s feet. I don’t know if both were eating at the same time, but neither seemed afraid of the other. I can’t believe Montana hasn’t stepped on the skunk, because he always seems to step on my toes when I’m around his feet. If he ever does step on the skunk, I’m sure the skunk will spray him, and that’ll be fun to clean up.

I ran inside to get the camera but the skunk was gone when I came back.

I asked a few friends if skunks carry rabies or anything that might be harmful to the horses. No one really knew, so I’ll let him be. Once we accidentally caught him in a live trap (intended for rats), and I let him go using a 10-foot PVC pipe to open the latch. I can’t imagine trying to capture, relocate, and release a skunk without getting sprayed. Over the years, we’ve relocated a number of animals, including a possum, a ground hog, a wild cat, and rats.