It was written by Santayana in The Life of Reason, 1905, that: "Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it." In the case of skunks, a truer statement cannot be said. If you have never had the displeasure of trying to sleep through the night with the smell of skunk burning its way into the deepest parts of your subconscious mind, let this short piece of history protect you from repeating it.
 
It began with a yelping noise in the basement of the two-story apartment complex we were living in. Now, when I say apartment complex, it was really just a very large house that was made into two apartments. In this home that fancied itself an apartment, there were open vents between the floors. This was so that excess heat from the basement furnace could work its way up through to the top. But on this particular day, heat wasn't the only thing that would make its way up.
 
After quite a few yelps, I was compelled to investigate. As it turned out, our upstairs neighbor's dog had a run-in with a skunk, and they had agreed amongst themselves, that there was no way they were bringing that skunk-smelling dog up to their apartment. What they had failed to realize is that the smell of skunk has an irritating ability to fill in any space it is occupying, and the two-story apartment house we shared wasn't nearly large enough.
 
We all soon learned that a tragic mistake had been made as the smell grew in intensity, and it wasn't long before we were laughing ourselves to tears at just how potent the smell was, even at the very top of the home. We were stuffing toilet paper in our nostrils and using anything we could find to breathe through.
 
If all this were not enough, it was also the dead of winter. When we attempted to let the smell out of the apartment, we let the heat out as well. We were walking around with blankets wrapped around us and puffs of breath pouring out of our mouths--every time we'd finally give in and breathe.
 
But none of this compared to trying to sleep through the night with the smell of skunk forcing its way in through our nostrils and deep into our souls. I found myself waking several times as if from a nightmare, only to realize that the nightmare was real. Oh so very real.
 
What can we take away from this story of woe? If you suspect you have a skunk on your property--or you know for sure--call a pest control company like Thomas Pest Services. Skunks are not an animal you ever want to have living on your property. All it takes is one spray to ruin your day. Always have skunks safely removed by a professional.