Linton night crew vs. skunk

Almost a year ago we adopted a Beagle puppy and that has led to me spending more time outside at night. June the Beagle is not known for a large bladder so we take walks at sometimes as late as 2 a.m. I call the two of us the “Linton Night Crew” as I enjoy looking up at the stars and hearing the silence our small town provides in the middle of the night.

I will make the case that Linton is at its best at night. The town feels abandoned as it is just me and little Juney on the sidewalk under the stars and moon.

Tuesday night though we were not alone. June heard a noise of a creature near us and went flying out the door with me holding the leash. I saw movement in the darkness but could not tell what it was. The shadow had the form of a cat but was walking differently from any cat I’ve seen. Then the animal came onto our patio with a white tail pointed straight up. It was a skunk.

At this point, I am holding June 10 yards away. June begins to growl at the skunk and later bark the way Beagles do. Her howl likely woke a few families up in Linton. If I had released June, she would have gone up to the skunk and been sprayed in the middle of the night. The problem now is the skunk is between me and the door.

The solution was to wait the skunk out and keep my distance. I walked June to the other side of the house and hoped the skunk would move off. Minutes later, the skunk was far enough from the door for us to get back inside without getting sprayed.

Later, we smelled an odor from the side of the house where the skunk was. The Linton Night Crew avoided a direct hit but our house did not. We’ll call that a draw for the Linton Night Crew.

Nathan Pace is the Sports Editor of the Greene County Daily World and can be reached at npace@gcdailyworld.com