The "Where the Wild Things Are" Story

It was an ordinary day. We have just feed Creamsicle. She is an orange and white feral cat that visits us daily and we feed her to keep her from starving. She took the place of Arnette who was a mottled gray feral cat. Arnette had three litters of kittens around our house which we caught and took to the Humane League. The first litter we caught in a butterfly net while they were playing. The second litter we caught when she brought them to feed on our deck and they very nicely walked into the cat carrier to get the food. Reached out the door and snapped the cage shut as they were busy eating. Pretty neat. All of these kittens ended up being adopted. Her third liter she didn't bring around for fear she would lose them also. But, we did manage to catch all but one in a trap. They were also adopted. We finally managed to catch Arnette in the cat carrier, but we never knew what happened to her after we took her to the Humane League. We believe that Creamsicle is the lone kitten we didn't catch. We're still trying. We love animals of all varieties and have had many pets in our house over the last 43 years. Everything from dogs, gerbils, cats, a guinea pig, a ferret, a rabbit and a chinchilla. But, these were all domesticated pets. Now, the cats aren't the only visitors to our feeding bowls on the deck. We have Pepe LePew, a totally black skunk with a small white spot on his head. He looks into our back door while we watch TV at night. He loves the excess cat food that remains in the bowl. We also have Percy the possum that comes to visit a few times a week. Our grandson Caden helped pick his name for us. Percy is one of his favorite train characters in the Thomas stories. Percy wakes us at night when he tries to get the last bite out of the bowl. He's an extremely noisy eater. At times he brings a smaller possum with him. We are trying to come up with a good name for her. Then there is Rocky the raccoon. Last night as we watched TV we knew something was watching us. Carol turned and looked at the back door. A masked creature was looking back at her. Rocky! Probably hoping we would put more food out for the evening. Over the years I have trapped and released 3 groundhogs, 2 possums and a skunk. I caught Arnette the cat one time in our trap, but before I could get out of bed to cover the trap to calm her, she escaped. She really had street smarts. We live in a development that is near a public park that was originally a large wooded farm. At times, when we walk, we see red foxes as well as deer. I must admit that looking out our back door at night and seeing a fox or a deer staring back might freak me out. My trap isn't big enough!! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - since I originally wrote this story another skunk has arrived. Big with white stripes that start at his head and go to the tip of his tail. Saw him three nights ago eating on the deck while Creamsicle watched from the picnic table. Went to bed that night and shortly after was awakened by this terrible odor. Takes a lot to wake me, but this smell sure did. The skunk decided to spray someone or something next to our back door. Smell has gone away outside now, but the odor has permeated the house. We have candles, deodorizers and an industrial sanitizer blasting away, but is still there when you enter the house. Almost like in the Seinfeld episode when the valet parked his car and the BO never left his car. We don't plan to sell the house though to get rid of the odor.