Waldo’s New Buddy

[Waldo]

Well, now that I have it, I'm not sure what I am going to do with it.

His Mom became Roadkill and he was about to end in the same fate. He is friendly, nosey as a coon and eats about anything but I have found only one vet that will descent him and he advises against it. His contention is that he can develop rabies at any time, though it is not likely he will. It costs around $400.00 to get it descented, neutered and all its shots. Again, the vet advised that even if we elected to spend the money, if he bit someone the next day we would have to behead it and send it to be checked for rabies. He told me that he has had to send several off who were made into pets and so far, all came back negative but it still would have to be done.

So far he has not sprayed anyone, though he is definately capable of doing so. I think his fate lies in being released down on the banks of the Saline River soon.

 

[Pepere]

Waldo, you 'ol softie you.

Tough decision that's for sure. I suspect I'd have to make sure it were old enough to fend for it self and send it on its way. If you de-scent, it will have no natural protection against natural preditors and if you keep it there's always the chance he sprays you or a neighbor, worse yet bites someone. While he looks scared little does he know he's in good hands eh Waldo.

 

[PolishWineP]

I thought of a name for it! Stinkie!

 

[paubin]

Or perhaps BBB STINKIE....

...LMAO



Sorry AAA, I just couldn't pass it up!



Pete

 

[Angell Wine]

Rudolf the red nose reindeer has some competition this year I see or smell or something.

 

[grapeman]

When I was a kid many years ago, we had a friend that had a skunk de-scented and kept it for a pet for many years. My brother found a coon that was orpaned and we kept it for a pet-not always good.It grew to be about 30 pounds and was really friendly. We all loved it dearly, but after killing about 25 chickens, we decided it had to go. You can't change an animals wild instincts.We gave it away to a breeding farm for animals in Vermont. The oddest story about it was that it disappeared about Decmber 20 after a cold snap. I was riding the snowmobile after a snowstorm and recent cold snap and there he was up a tree. I called to him and coaxed him down the tree. He held on around my neck and rode down to the farm house with his legs wrapped around my neck. There he spent the rest of the winter hibernating in the basement near the wood furnace.


My wife and I also adoped three baby coons after it's mom was road kill. The kits were found in the chimney of my Mom's house. We had two cats with kittens at the time.We paired the kittens up on one mother cat and gave the baby coons to the other. She adopted them without hesitation and raised them to full-grown coons. What a sight- baby coons latched onto a mother cat half their size!

The local newspaper ran a story on them. The babies grew to full size. They were names Flopsy, Mopsy and... Tina(she was little).Later a local hunter decided he needed some coons to train his hounds with and told us so. Two days later the coons disappeared- we were totally devistated, but couldn't prove anything.


Good luck with him, whatever you decide to do.

 

[jobe05]

When I was a kid, I had a pet skunk, found him the same way you found this one. I took it home, never had it descented, distempered or anything and it was a great pet............ Till my father started working nights and came home at 2: in the morning...........

But that wasn't the end of him....... that came when we went on vacation and my Uncle wanted to watch him....... My uncle raised chickens............ well...... use to...........


They make wonderfull pets and I wish I could find one like that, I wouldn't hesitate for one second to get him descented. As a pet, it's kinda like having a cat and a dog all wrapped up into one. They love to swim too............. Well...... At least mine liked the neighbors pool.......

Wished I lived closer Waldo, I'd take him off your hands.....

 

[Wade E]

My dog (1/2 Rottweiler,1/2 Husky) has gotten sprayed 3 times in the
last 1 1/2 months so as cute as the baby skunk looks, I never want to
see one again and definetely not smell one.By the way, I have the
perfect recipe for destinking a dog now as total sprays for this dog is
now 7 in 4 years.

 

[MedPretzel]

Keep it, Waldo.





Have him descented. They can be kept like rabbits in cages at night, and they are very loving animals. If he gets his distemper/rabies shots, you'll be fine. I know it's a lot of money, but they are particularly warm and cuddly pets, especially since he's so young.


If you choose not to keep him, you might want to ask at the local zoo or animal protective league about donating him. Or ask your wildlife department.





Can you tell how I have 3.5 cats within 3 years?





Martina

 

[Wade E]

3.5 Cats Martina? I have a 116 lb. dog, 4 cats, 2 kids, and no sanity.

Wade
Edited by: wadewade

 

[MedPretzel]

Well, the .5 is a stray that I secretly feed. 3 cats in the house means constant de-hairing of EVERYTHING.





I can't give them to my sister on the horse-farm since she has 13 already. (She also has one dog, 2 horses of her own. She has 4 other people's horses that she takes care of)

 

[NorthernWinos]

At least your little baby is cute...hope you make the right decision with him, whether to raise him as a pet or find someone who will.....or feed him till he is able to fend for himself......and return him to the wild.

These are my 'tenants' in the grape vine...from beautiful eggs...

To faces only a mother could love...

Gadds...they are ugly...

One of the House Wren's nest is empty now, the other is tucked safely in the raspberries and we avoid that area when picking....these adult birds are sure protective and we try to pick the berries as quickly as possible to shorten their stress....
The raspberries are getting smaller with each picking due to lack of rain, so we will leave lots of 'raisins' for the birds to eat.

Waldo, good luck with your little one..he sure is a cutie and would be hard to part with....

Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[Waldo]

As cute as he is and as strong as my desire is to keep him I cannot let my desire put him in the jeopardy I feelI would be placing him by keeping him.

 

[jobe05]

Good choice Waldo

Wild animals are part of the natural balance of this wonderfull world we live in.

 

[pkcook]

Waldo,


My Dad was a coal miner and found a mother fox (grey)with kits near a garbage dump on the mine road. He would get scrap meat from the butcher and stop and feed the mother and gradually the mother would eat out of his hand (not smart, but neat). One evening while he was feeding her another truck pulled up and shot her and sped away leaving him with one of the kits (the others ran away). He brought it home and wefed it from a baby bottle. That was the "meanest" pet Iever had! Hewouldn't let you touch his cage without trying to bite you. After about 3 months, my Dadwas afraid one of us would get hurt so hefound an old man that wanted totake it and he raised it. He trained it towalk on a leash and it lived with him in the house! We would go by and visit and play withhim. I couldn't get over how beautiful he was!The old man would laugh telling us how Fox (what he named him)would "whoop the daylights outta ever dog that came aroundthe place."

What a tranformation!


Any baby animal that's been orphaned tugs on our heart strings, but I think you are making the right choice by returning him to the wild.

 

[rgecaprock]

Waldo,


That is a hard decision. I would have to turn him loose so he can be with his own kind and live free.


Ramona................sure is cute though!!!!!

 

[Funky Fish]

Waldo,


Everyone's right when they say he's a cute as a button. And I'm sure that it's a hard decision to release him on his own and let nature take it's course, but I do applaud you for having the heart to rescue him in the first place.

And for being brave enough to hold a skunk that close!