An open letter to the skunk that sprayed outside my bedroom
Thanks for giving me a story to tell
Dear Skunk,
I’d just like to start off by saying I completely understand why you did what you did. You were curious and also scared. I get it. I don’t blame you at all. I was also scared and curious. More scared than anything. But someone needs to be held accountable for my story. So, let me take you through the series of events from my perspective, so you can understand why I am writing you this letter.
I had just settled in for the night. Literally seconds before the incident began, I had turned off the light in my room and pulled up the covers. Then, I heard a noise outside. It definitely sounded like an animal moving about. “Maybe,” I thought hopefully, “it’s just one of the cats.” Then, I realized the cats had already been taken inside for the night.
Of course, I had expected a few animal encounters during my stay in Colorado. I was staying in the middle of the wilderness, for Pete’s sake. If you were to walk out of my bedroom, you would literally walk into a forest. I was just hoping that the forest would stay outside of my room.
With the noise, my first thought immediately turned to bears. There were warnings of high bear activity in the area, and I was afraid one was going to enter my room. So, I jumped up immediately and turned on my bedroom light.
You stuck around, though. I kept hearing your footsteps outside the door. I thought about going to the screen door and seeing what was out there. I slowly crept to the door, phone flashlight in hand. Somehow, I still couldn’t see anything, just the door and darkness behind it. I concluded it had to be a bear.
Remembering how bears are afraid if there are lots of people around, I started playing a podcast (My Brother, My Brother, and Me; Episode 414) that had three additional voices. The McElroy Brothers definitely scared you. Of course, you sprayed. A natural defense mechanism, or so I’m told.
A few moments later, I could smell your fumes in my room. I immediately opened the bedroom door inside the house to encourage diffusion into the rest of the house. Not wanting to close the outside door (I would’ve needed to open the screen door) and face you again, I covered the screen with blinds. Doing some more quick thinking, I sprayed my own smell, from a can of Febreze. By the time I went back to bed, your smell was mostly gone.
Of course, if you had only shown your face, all of this could’ve been prevented. I know when I see a skunk to walk away and not scare it. Perhaps next time, come closer to the door, where I can see you better. I will use a more powerful flashlight too. Despite my errors, I still hold you accountable. It was your spray after all.
Hopefully, there will not be a next time. I understand you were curious about the random light in the middle of the wilderness. But maybe the incident was the best thing for the both of us. You should remember that you were frightened by the cacophony of voices. I will remember that not just bears live in the woods. In the end, we both learned valuable lessons. I hope you appreciate that.
Respectfully yours,
Eddie
The skunk attack occurred on Saturday night. Earlier that day, I traveled to Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) with my relatives. Located about 90 minutes from Morrison, RMNP features stunning views of the Rockies and a few peaks over 14,000 feet. Unfortunately, I didn’t do too much hiking. Just a small trail at 11,000 feet. Once you’re up that high, the effects of the high altitude are easy to perceive. I had much shorter breaths, and quickly, I grew tired. For most of the trip through the park, we traveled by car on the main road, so the altitude was a non-factor. Of course, I took loads of pictures on the short walks and when we ate lunch, but most of my other pictures are from the backseat of a car. I’ll place a few of the pictures below.
A few days before the skunk encounter, I had another animal encounter. This one was much more timid. I was on a walk to some rocks near the property in Morrison for sunset pictures. Standing close to the path was a deer. Luckily the deer stood stock still (“like a deer in headlights”), posing for a few pictures. Other than seeing and hearing a few birds, those two animals are the only ones I’ve encountered in the Colorado wilderness.
I hope you enjoyed the format change today. I certainly enjoyed writing in a more creative style. My next post, my last from Colorado, will be back in the regular style.
