Injured skunk rescued, on mend

by Rob Ruth

An adult skunk whose physical senses aren’t funtioning well is trapped in traffic on your street. Do you try to save her?

Most people probably would not, but Weiser’s Stephanie Monis is not most people. Faced with the above-described situation this past Tuesday, she committed herself fully and without hesitation to the compassionate course: rescue.

Readers please note: Monis and others advise strongly against following her example too closely. Not only did the woman risk being sprayed, but she also had contact with the injured animal, an action fraught with risk.

“I would be really cautious around skunks that show abnormal behavior,” remarked Chuck Green, animal ordinance officer for the Weiser Police Department. He noted that skunks are the No. 2 rabies carrier in Idaho, behind bats. And even if a skunk isn’t rabid, he added, its bite wouldn’t be one you’d soon forget. “They’ve got some good chompers in there,” he said.

These disclaimers notwithstanding, the story of Monis’ wildlife encounter last week is one of trust not betrayed. Possibly easing her decision to act was the fact that she was already somewhat familiar with the animal when she spotted it late Tuesday afternoon in the three-way intersection where Indianhead Road meets the old US 95 near Weiser’s northeast corner.

Stephanie and husband Cal own and operate the Indianhead Motel and RV Park. The couple say they first saw the skunk early Monday evening in their RV park. The animal, which appeared to have something wrong with a rear leg, was continually walking in circles. Concerned, Stephanie took some food out to the skunk, getting within a few feet of it while Cal snapped some photographs. The skunk, an adult female, ate the food while showing no sign of being alarmed by human presence, but Stephanie had the impression the animal wasn’t seeing or hearing properly.

When the couple saw the skunk in the street the following day, the animal appeared unable to choose a direction to safety. Stephanie promptly went out and stopped traffic while she began herding the confused creature to the side of the road. She said the task took a good 10 minutes or longer because the animal would at times head underneath idling vehicles whose drivers would wait patiently for the woman to get the creature back on course.

Stephanie eventually got the skunk to the dirt driveway at States Produce. Judy Sterling, owner of the restaurant across the street, brought over some raw eggs to feed the animal, which again showed no reluctance to eat while a person was nearby. Stephanie ventured a little petting of the skunk, which continued to show no sign of alarm.

Meanwhile, Cal was phoning around trying find someone, anyone, who would take the animal and nurse it back to health. He couldn’t get an immediate answer from Idaho Fish and Game. Washington County dispatch, however, referred him to Georgia Hites, a Weiser woman who volunteers with the Animals In Distress Association (AIDA), a Boise organization licensed by Idaho Fish and Game as a wildlife rehabilitator. Monis got through to Hites, who was promptly on scene.

Hites carefully placed a cloth over the skunk and loaded it into a carrier, which she placed inside the cab of friend’s pickup for transport to AIDA’s Toni Hicks in Boise. In an interview on Friday, Georgia said Hicks had determined that the animal had suffered a head injury, but the outlook for its recovery seemed pretty good.

Hites, who has raised for release numerous orphaned baby squirrels, said her mother, Pat Sasenbery of Payette, introduced her to wild animal rescue many years ago.

Hites said she the extent of Stephanie Monis’ compassion for the injured skunk, henceforth known to the women as “Flower” (after Disney character Bambi’s skunk friend), was amazing to witness.
Hites also noted that AIDA could really use more volunteers in the Weiser area. More information is available at www.idahowoldliferescue.org.

The organization also has a hotline people can call when they find an injured or orphaned wild animal. That number is 367-1026.
 

--WEISER SIGNAL AMERICAN
2/5/07