Nobody sprayed
Staff writer
Assistant Police Chief Clinton Jeffery said about four sources reported seeing a skunk running down Main Street Friday just before noon.
“It was moving kind of funny on its back legs,” he said. “People were wondering if it was rabid.”
Jeffery said several people wanted him to dispose of it with his firearm on sight because of its suspicious activity during the day.
“I wasn’t about to discharge my weapon in a public place,” he said. “But I planned to get it off Main St. without getting sprayed.”
Jeffrey kept his distance and tried to corral it to the trees off Waters St. However, the skunk at large had a different plan. It fled down the alley between Main and Waters Sts. and disappeared inside a small hole on the north wall of Flaming’s.
Police Chief Tyler Mermis arrived on scene not long after the skunk retreated into the hole. Mermis and Jeffrey discussed ways to either trap the skunk inside or lure it out.
Flaming’s receptionist Shirley Groening, who had come out to see why police cars were parked in the alley, told officers that she thought it might be the skunk’s nest because she thought she had smelled skunk-like odors inside the building before.
Mermis asked Groening if she could find out more about the hole from Merle Flaming.
Flaming said the hole was an active drain line that water flowed from when it rains. He suggested officers use a fire hose to flush out the critter by spraying water onto the roof.
Doug Regnier and fire chief Mike Regnier also stopped by. Both had a chuckle having heard of the skunk. However, no fire trucks were called.
Mermis said city worker Travis Schafers usually handles skunk trapping and removal but he had been so busy lately that he couldn’t respond to this incident.
However, Marion High School junior and aspiring trapper Landon Pedersen was also on site. He told officers he would bring one of his live-traps to the scene to help them ensnare the skunk.
“I’ve caught around 20 skunks,” Pedersen said. “I use peanut butter on bread to bait the traps. It works. They seem to like it.”
Out of all the times he has handled skunks, Pedersen said he was sprayed just once.
“A skunk shot me in the face when I looked under the blanket I use to cover the cage,” he said. “The vet gave me a mixture of baking soda and something else she uses to wash off dogs that get sprayed.”
After Pedersen returned to the alley with a baited trap, officers asked him to tie a rope to the cage so they could drag the caged skunk away as a safe distance if it took the bait.
However, the skunk appeared to have eluded capture as of Monday.
Mermis said no police report had been filed.
Landon’s father, Christian Pedersen, also said that when Landon checked his trap, the only thing inside was the bait.