Right after I finished taking the photos yesterday of the goat girls in their new condo, I walked over to Lena's Barn to pick up a tool I needed for a project. It was light outside and relatively dark inside the barn, and I was about 10 feet down the aisle before my eyes adjusted to the difference. That's when I saw the raised skunk tail about 15 feet away. Whoops.
I stopped, "processed" this information for a second, and then said, "Oh, it's you."
I could hear her crunching on cat food. Happily. She looked over her shoulder at me, verified my identity, and began crunching again.
It was "our" skunk, who we had named Annie Andrew because, well, we aren't sure of her gender … though we think she is a she. Somehow we think a fully intact male skunk wouldn't be so, you know, easy-going about these encounters!
Yes, in addition to barn cats we also have a barn skunk. She's been appearing here for about three years and hangs out in the spring, summer and fall. Where she goes in winter we don't know.
She has never skunked us. We told her early on, "Spray us and we'll get the .22. Otherwise, make yourself at home." And she did.
When we startle her, as I did when I walked into the barn yesterday, she will lift her tail as a "friend or foe?" signal. Then, when we talk to her and she realizes everything's okay, she lowers the tail and … resumes eating.
We knew Annie Andrew had just returned because Alayne came across her Saturday night when she was closing up the barns. She had walked into Lena's Barn and out came Smudge and Skitter, two of our barn cats, from one of the stalls to greet her — along with Annie Andrew. All three animals walked with Alayne down the aisle to the south doors. It really is the oddest thing.
When Alayne returned to the house Saturday night, she said, "Guess who's back? Annie Andrew." We had been concerned that something had happened to her, because she normally shows up earlier in the spring than late April.
I had left the camera over by the goats' condo, so I went back to get it. I walked around to the other side of Lena's Barn and came in the south end to get a face shot of Annie Andrew. She was still munching on the cat food. (Ever been so close to a skunk you can hear it eating?) We typically pick up the bowls and put them in a sealed container at night so as not to invite other wildlife to come dining in the barn, but as you can tell, any time is a good time to eat cat food for Annie Andrew.
Yes, there is a risk that she — or the foxes or other wildlife around here — could get rabies, but that is just a fact of living in the country with critters around. All of our animals, including the horses, get vaccinated for rabies. (Rabies is now considered a "core" vaccine for horses by the American Association of Equine Practitioners.)
Annie Andrew doesn't actually live in the barn, though she does have a hiding spot underneath the south wall, just below Lena's stall, that she retreats to if there's too much activity or she's not sure what's going on. But most of the time she's off in the pastures or wherever skunks go.
After she finished the white bowl, she went over to check out the other two dishes, only to discover she had apparently already finished them, too:
Notice her tail is completely down. That is one relaxed skunk. After I took this last shot, she wandered off and disappeared into the stall we'd been keeping Margaret and her sisters in during the winter. As I walked back down the barn aisle to finally get the tool I was looking for, she was rooting around in the stall, searching for … leftover goat chow?
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Enter
"Rolling Dog Ranch" and our state postal code, MT for Montana,
and it will bring up our listing so you can cast your vote. We won
$1,000 in this online contest last year because of your help and would
like to win it again this year. Thank you!
Rolling Dog Farm Blog 
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