When you live in the country, you have to deal with all types of wildlife.
I have dealt with everything from black widow spiders in overturned stock
tanks to elk in the hay stack and all sizes in between.

Stinky Tenant

I lived in a house a hundred years old
on no foundation or blocks,
no crawlway space for plumbing or heat.
It perched on a few gathered rocks.

The wooden siding went down to the ground
where it was beginning to wear.
With chewing and digging a hole was soon made
by a skunk who decided to share.

More rocks I brought in to cover the hole,
but the skunk just built a new door.
All week I battled to evict my tenant
as the musk odor worked through the floor.

Peeved, I went out and dug a deep trench,
then nailed on some pieces of tin.
That night my kids called as they readied for bed,
"It sounds like that skunk wants back in.

I peeked out the door to look at this skunk,
But it was nowhere in sight.
Wondering where that rascal had gone,
I proceeded out, armed with a light.

It vanished completely into the night air,
nowhere to be seen ‘round my house.
"Good riddance! I thought, "I've outsmarted it.
I'm finally rid of that louse.

But as I was gleefully patting my back,
a scratching noise came from the tin.
The skunk was still here, just under the house.
I'd nailed that darn stinker in!

©1995 Terry Henderson