This is a news post from 2007 that was lost in archives and when I found it I felt the need to post it to the blog section so others could laugh at my pain;-)

West Virginia Pole Cat

I want to share a story with you that truly did reek:-) as you will see. (At the time) Our newest dog Baxter (a Coon Hound mix) ran into a West Virginia Polecat. If you are not familiar with the term “Polecat”, I will give you a hint; it looks likes this little black & white fellow on the left.

He was not outside long, but he chases anything and he defiantly chased the wrong animal that night. I let him in the house and then the odor set it. Most of us have smelled skunk before but this was not normal. It was so strong that I thought we had an electrical fire somewhere in the house.
So I go outside and and in the basement and all over the house and can’t find the smell. I walk back in the kitchen and my wife tells me the dog was wiping his face on the kitchen rug. After a little investigation, we solved the mystery.

Our little buddy ran into a polecat… When your dog meets a skunk your life changes for a short while. The thoughts of burying him cross your mind as you are tortured with the a smell worse than rotting flesh. You try to decide if your daughter can handle this job on her own since it was her dumb dog that made the very poor decision to chase the evil creature who has now disrupted your world. Ultimately you rush to find a way to kill the smell. Tomato juice was an old remedy I remembered. Then I found several remedies available on the internet, and we tried them all:-) I know it looks like we were killing him, but it is only tomato paste and spaghetti sauce. We had to improvise at 11:45 pm. We let this sit on him about 20 minutes and then rinsed him.

5th was a good old shampoo bath that made him all pretty again.

So at around 1:00 am he smelled great again. The problem was my house. In the 3-4 minutes he was in there, the odor moved around. It took 3-4 days to leave the house and it was airborne. Very bad stuff. It even got through my closet and onto my uniform. The next day I went to work at the courthouse and the magistrate asked if anyone else could smell skunk? I told him the story and he laughed at my pain too.

So this is my story and I am sticking to it. The dog smelled great that night but his collars we trashed. The house aired in in 3-4 days and all is well.

The big question is… If Mr. Polecat comes back through the yard, will my dog leave him alone?

Product Showcase

We really don’t offer skunk defense products, however DPS defense spray works very well to ward off mammals of all sizes. They can’t handle the effects of OC (pepper) with their sensitive noses. DPS is the worlds meanest pepper spray. This is the exact defense spray being used by over 500 law enforcement and correctional agencies in the USA. DPS is also carried by thousands of power company employees for defense against vicious animals and angry people. I would be fibbing if I said DPS was designed to ward off skunks, but it could help you gain some distance away from one.

My advice is simple when it comes to skunks, if you see one, be somewhere else.