I have had a skunk problem in my stable and around my house for about the last 2 years. Other then bees and wasps and other stinging insects, my next biggest phobia is skunks! During our kid years we had more than one dog get “sprayed” by a skunk and I sure don’t want to ever go though that if I’m the target! Tim shot one of the skunks by my stable last fall, but for obvious reasons we can’t shoot the one that lives under the feed box in the stable or the one that lives under my front steps at my house! I’ve been tempted many times to get my 7.5 mm pistol when I see it eating the garbage outside my door at night. However, if I shot it by the house it’s scent gland is sure to explode and my house would smell like skunk for who knows how long! Yeah, yeah, I know some of you are thinking that it couldn’t be any worse than cat litter boxes, but it is to me! The same goes for the one in the stable. On many mornings I enter the barn to feed the horses and see the skunk eating out of the cat food bowl along with the cats! I usually patently wait outside for the skunk to finish and go out. I sure don’t want to get it upset and get sprayed! The other morning I had the scare of my life when I didn’t see the skunk and after feeding the horses and cleaning the stalls, then feeding the cats, I sat down on the feed box to relax. After a minute or so I looked down and to my great horror saw the skunk eating the fresh cat food I filled the bowl with! It was about 3 feet from me! I s-l-o-w-l-y moved away from it and went outside! I wondered if the skunk “wanted to make friends” with me. Be that as I may, I will NEVER make friends with it! It’s odd that I’m so afraid of skunks, because when we were kids we had a pet skunk. Our mother was going to pay to have it’s scent gland removed just as it was starting to smell, but it met its end as so many other pets. It was hit in the road. It’s odd that I don’t remember its name. Tim or Sue may, but I don’t have the ambition to call and ask them at the moment. I did some skunk research on the Internet and found that it’s very common for skunks to hang around cats and eat their food right along with them! The cats and horses don’t seem to exhibit any fear of the skunk. Hmmmm, maybe they know something I don’t! I’m not about to find out any time soon, however! Some questions in life are better left unanswered! I’m always afraid the house cats will get “sprayed”, but so far they just ignore each other! I wish I could do as well! The last few months I have been careful not to leave any trash bags outside the door, but take them right to the “fire burner” away from the house. I shall continue to wage war with the skunks until I can either eliminate them or wait for them to move on, or finally make friends with them, no wait, never mind the friends part…