Burial for a skunk

No, this isn't about my going to a funeral for someone that no one liked. It was a real skunk and it had been killed one night while crossing the road in front of our house. I sort of wish I had taken a picture of it to post here but I wasn't thinking. All I could think about was my duty.

The deed happened over a month ago. The skunk was there in the morning when I left for work and, of course, I knew what had happened before I saw it. It was on the side of the road and just assumed the town would take it away. I should have known better because I've had to get rid of other animals that have been hit on our street before. But never a skunk. Before, I was able to just scoop it up and throw it in the empty lot across the road. But this was too much. The smell filled the air and was only going to get worse.

After a few days, though, we got a big snow storm and, unusually for Cape Cod, it stuck around for a long time. And just as it was melting, we got another snow storm. So, Mr. Skunk was buried, so to speak, already. And it was so cold, that the smell stopped smelling. Then a January thaw came and the snow started to melt. The skunk was no longer on the side of the road and we assumed the town had picked it up. They hadn't. The town snow plows had shoved the skunk off the road and into the sidewalk and then the sidewalk plow had shoved it up against our fence. Then it got even warmer and the smell returned.

So, this past week-end, I finally had to do it. Completely unrelated to this - I had a hole already dug in the woods in our back yard. When our dog Charlie was alive, I would dig holes in he middle of the wooded area way behind our house and bury his poop there. When the hole was nearly full, I'd cover it with the dirt from digging a new whole in another area. I had dug a hole for Charlie's winter production before the winter freeze came. As you know from an earlier post, Charlie died before Thanksgiving so the hole was still there. I was going to fill it in in the spring but now it would come in handy.

I picked a wide, flat bladed shovel to scoop up the skunk. When I got to the spot, I was amazed at what good condition the coat was in. It was beautiful as a matter of fact. I'd seen live skunks in our yard and had gotten fairly close to some live (and de-scented) skunks in zoos but I don't remember them having as beautiful a coat as this month-long dead skunk. I had second thoughts about burying it and covering up such a beautiful animal but then reason returned and I headed to the woods and threw it in. I have to admit that I was very sad as I covered up the skunk but it had to be done. The smell has now faded from our front yard and you'd never know the skunk was there.

I was thinking about how skunks are probably a pretty confident bunch. They know that other than really young predators who haven't learned better, they are pretty safe. Who would be stupid enough to threaten a skunk? Skunks are a pretty calm animal because they aren't under a lot of stress. They feel pretty safe. But then along comes a car or truck. They can't comprehend this threat to themselves. This is a lot like us humans. We build our nice strong houses and invest in retirement funds. We go to college and get a good job. What could possibly give us trouble?

We can make our plans,
but the Lord determines our steps. Proverbs 16:9 New Living Translation