Skunk in the tub

 Skunk in the tub? It's was early, about 10 a.m. and my first call was to a residence in Daly City just off of John Daly Blvd. The sky was grey and cold and of course foggy, it reminded me of London without the werewolf's, however; some citizens were a lot more terrifying. The woman that called was standing out in front of her house holding two small boys by the hand. " Tell him what you did", was the first thing she said, " and you Tommy, you let it in".  Both boys stood silent and turned away now clinging to their mother. "How can I help you this morning", I asked as the faint odor of skunk drifted through the air? "Well, it happened like this" Mom replied, this morning I got up, poured the boys some cereal and parked them in front of the television set. I returned to bed for just 15 minutes more of peace and quite when I thought I heard the sound of running water coming from the master bathroom? "Jimmy", my youngest pulled the blankets from over my face and said, " we got a new puppy and he needs a bath"? I went to investigate and saw "Tommy", my six year old filling the tub with warm water and pouring bubble bath over a baby skunk! I immediately grabbed "Tommy" and turned off the water and closed the door. I asked both boys how did a skunk get inside our house? "Tommy's not talking", she said, but "Jimmy" said they heard some scratching coming from the front door and opened it something they've been told never to do. "Jimmy told me he and his brother started to feed what they thought was a puppy some cereal but it smelled a little? "We lost our dog last year", she said, "she was a black and white Chihuahua and we all dearly miss her". I opened the bathroom door and carefully looked inside. It was a skunk for sure and the animal now soaked managed to get out of the tub and was now under the bathroom sink. Other than being wet and covered in pink bubble bath the little creature appeared healthy, active and alert. I'm not sure he was too happy with me and seemed to enjoy his new environment. Not really being a skunk whisperer I did know this, they liked to hide in small boxes so I laid a cardboard cat carrier down hoping the skunk would walk inside? I stood next to the door while mom and boys watched from across the room. I whispered to the boys to be very quite as to not disturb the skunk but boys will be boys. Almost instantly they both climbed on top of the bed and started jumping up and down yelling, " we got a new puppy, we got a new puppy". "Please boy's", I said, It's not a puppy, it's a baby skunk" while at the same time I looked into the bathroom and saw the skunk somewhat agitated stomping both front feet in anger with it's tail cocked and locked in the upright position.  I just hate getting sprayed first thing in the morning and things weren't looking up. I fished the cat carrier back out and asked mom for some more cereal. Within seconds my wayward wildlife ran into the box without even a little puff of gas. I carefully brought him out of the house and into my trunk without spraying as mom and boys watched me from the top of the stairs. At no time did mom or the boys ever physically make contact with the skunk regarding any health concerns, however; the animal was quarantined for a period of 14 days at our Wildlife Dept. and successfully released back into the wild hopefully never to return for a bath again!