Topper is Back

News for anyone catching my blog who is not one of my social media friends... one of the Toppers showed up Saturday evening. It was World Wildlife Day and what a nice surprise to end the day.

Quick recap... last Summer I caught an injured Skunk and brought her into TWC. Her injuries were quite severe and they said there was no way they could ethically release her back home even though she was a lactating mother Skunk (meaning she had babies in the neighbourhood somewhere). I was asked to keep watch for any little Skunks. I informed a few neighbours to do so as well. We saw none until a few weeks later, when up to 4 little Skunks appeared the occasional evening. Two of them were almost like twins and they stuck around near our property the remainder of the Summer, right into late Autumn. Angie named them both Topper. I could tell the difference between them by the bit of striping on the shoulder blades. One had more there than the other. Neither had striping on the back. So with the white cap, like a topper, that is how they got the name. We could only assume these young Skunks were from that mother. I did read that once baby Skunks leave the den, they are on their own. So maybe, lack of a better term, the timing worked out for them when their mom was taken away? It certainly adds to their story though.

They were a treat to see so often. The Toppers really educated us on sharing the backyard with Skunks. I hoped my posting about them through social media educated others to be more accepting of these animals and not see them as ready to spray upon sight.

Anyway, happy that one of them surfaced again. I suppose he slept all winter and is now just waking up. I don't know if we will be blessed with early morning and early evening views like last year but I can hope.

I sure had fun with them, especially in my time of healing after the accident I had.

If you'd like to revisit the Topper blog, click here.

I hope I will be sharing more blogs about the Toppers this year.