Dear Readers,
Please
don’t think I’m bragging, but just the other day I was sure I'd save my humans
from certain harm. Lately there have
been many of the creatures called Mephitis Mephitis, in our yard, also known as skunks. You know, Pepe Le Pew. Not
as cute as the cartoon though.
My latest read, the book Rabid, A
Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus by
Murphy and Wasik, reported that the skunk was the source of numerous cases of
rabies in the old West. And here’s a fun fact:
a single skunk bit 16 people at a military fort. Every one of them died.
Rabies, without vaccine treatment, is pretty much fatal.
Naturally I didn’t want such a thing to
happen to my owners! So every night before using “the necessary” I carefully
patrol the backyard. I spied a striped rascal sneaking around the bushes and tore
after it. I saw the devil stamp its feet and turned its back. (A clue, I later
learned, as to what was coming next.)
You know us whippets, nearly the fastest dog breed. I pounced and grabbed the skunk but a rotten egg stench filled the air. My human shrieked my name. Assuming she wished to inspect my catch, I scurried over. Instead she grabbed me with a horrified look on her face.
Before I knew it I was whisked into the shower stall. Seconds later peroxide fizzed on my skin; an ingredient in that homemade remedy that removes skunk spray from dog coats. I was scrubbed, washed, rinsed, pressed, buffed, etc. until the odor of skunk was somewhat dulled.
How was I to know that skunks are no longer a threat for rabies? Do I look like a public health expert? Instead of being a heroine I’m sopped and discouraged. Sigh!
Toodles, Barcelona
