crazy squirrels

I went on a small run tonight. After parting with my friend I was walking home down a neighborhood road that I take because I think it shortens my walk home by at least 5 feet (!). It was just after dusk, the edge of night, when things are starting to lose their color and form. I heard some squeeky chirpy sound and immediately thought "it's some crazy squirrels". Anytime I see or think of squirrels I always think of Mark's story about kicking that one strange squirrel... Anyway, my next thought was an attempt to be more rational and I thought "maybe it's some night birds. going crazy." As I got near the source of the squeeky noise, I suddenly saw that it was a couple of skunks arguing in some low shrubbery. I quickly crossed to the other side and picked it up to a light speed walk until I felt safely distanced from the little squealers. A car headed down the road and I thought about how awful it would be if I was still back by the skunks and it hit one of them and sprayed all over me as an innocent bystander. I thought in that case I would have to call my roommate to ask her to buy about 30 huge cans of tomato sauce to bathe in then not go to work for a couple weeks. I also thought about this pioneer story I read recently: There were a lot of pioneers who came straight from Europe then headed across the plains. They weren't familiar with the North American flora and fauna. One old man had no sense of smell (quite literally) and he was out looking for water and saw this animal that he wondered whether it might be good to eat. After bludgeoning it to death with his cane, he carried it into camp only to to the appall of those in his handcart company, for he was bringing a skunk and covered with it's scent!

That was my skunk adventure. I don't think I ever wrote about the wild turkeys we encountered a couple months ago on an evening run. Apparently all the wild animals of Brookline like to come out at night... except that crazy squirrel of Mark's- that might not have been night...