Throughout my life I have had amazing encounters with wildlife, and today I’m going to start sharing some of those stories with you. Today I’ll start with encounters with an ermine and a skunk.
I was deer hunting on my woodlot and sitting on the ground with my back up against a Hemlock tree, when I saw an ermine running back and forth about 50 yards from me. At that time of year, ermine are white and beautiful. That ermine, still running back and forth, got closer and closer to me.
When it got about 10 yards away, the ermine turned and ran right at me, running up my leg and stopping on my chest. Ermine have very sharp teeth and if it had bit me in the neck I probably would have died. It happened so quick all I could do was turn my head and stare at it.
Thankfully it quickly decided that I was not a tree and it leaped off me and ran away. That is an encounter I have never forgotten!
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Running a bit late for a Selectmen’s meeting one evening years ago, even though it was dark, I dashed down the stairs into my workshop without turning on the light. Approaching the door to the garage, I felt our cat move across my feet in front of me and reached down to pet him. Bad mistake.
The skunk blasted me right in the face, and I staggered and started running back upstairs, shedding my stinking clothing along the way before jumping into the shower. Linda later collected the clothing and threw it away.
Eventually I got to the Selectmen’s meeting. No one sat near me. And it took three days to get rid of that awful smell. Another encounter I have never forgotten!