05-19-2006, 12:04 PM
[cool][#0000ff]There's gotta be a good joke in there somewhere...beaver on a fly. Nah, this is a family forum.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]One of my potentially most dangerous wildlife encounters while tubing involved a skunk. I had been tubing along the shoreline of a little lake down in Arizona early one morning, casting small jigs almost right up onto the shore, catching big sunfish. A big old skunk came waddling down to the shoreline a few yards away and began working in my direction, looking for bugs or anything else edible that might have washed up on the shore.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]When I was a kid, I used to tease my sister's cat when I practiced casting in my back yard. I used a hookless casting weight and made the cat go crazy chasing it. I saw the skunk and thought "Why not?". I did not bother to remove the jig with a hook in it, not planning to hook the stinky kitty. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I made a cast a few feet ahead of the skunk and it looked up briefly, but then went back to concentrating on the ground at its feet. When he was within a foot or so, I twitched the jig, just like I would for a fish...and the results were the same. Before I could jerk the jig away the skunk pounced on it with both paws. Hookup. Oh nooooooooo![/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I was using 4# line so I jerked hard to snap it and just leave the jig with the skunk. The hard jerk DID snap the line, but it also rolled the skunk into the water. After regaining its footing in the shallow water, it looked in my direction and finally recognized me as the source of the problem. It immediately launched an amphibious attack, swimming strongly right toward me. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I was only about forty feet from the shore and the mad skunk was coming fast. I laid back in my old donut tube and put my big fins and well conditioned legs to work. I all but threw up a roostertail getting out of there. That mad skunk kept up the pursuit for many yards out into the lake before recognizing that it could not catch me. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have often wondered what my "punishment" would have been if the skunk had caught me. I know they bite and that some of them carry rabies. I doubt I would have been sprayed, because they have to be on solid ground to position themselves for the "blast".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I really was sorry. Sorry to lose my jig and sorry to have hurt the little feller. Although, I have also done my share to eradicate skunks in areas where they constitute a nuisance to residents and a hazard to the public during rabies outbreaks. They are still cute animals and make good pets.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]One of my potentially most dangerous wildlife encounters while tubing involved a skunk. I had been tubing along the shoreline of a little lake down in Arizona early one morning, casting small jigs almost right up onto the shore, catching big sunfish. A big old skunk came waddling down to the shoreline a few yards away and began working in my direction, looking for bugs or anything else edible that might have washed up on the shore.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]When I was a kid, I used to tease my sister's cat when I practiced casting in my back yard. I used a hookless casting weight and made the cat go crazy chasing it. I saw the skunk and thought "Why not?". I did not bother to remove the jig with a hook in it, not planning to hook the stinky kitty. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I made a cast a few feet ahead of the skunk and it looked up briefly, but then went back to concentrating on the ground at its feet. When he was within a foot or so, I twitched the jig, just like I would for a fish...and the results were the same. Before I could jerk the jig away the skunk pounced on it with both paws. Hookup. Oh nooooooooo![/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I was using 4# line so I jerked hard to snap it and just leave the jig with the skunk. The hard jerk DID snap the line, but it also rolled the skunk into the water. After regaining its footing in the shallow water, it looked in my direction and finally recognized me as the source of the problem. It immediately launched an amphibious attack, swimming strongly right toward me. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I was only about forty feet from the shore and the mad skunk was coming fast. I laid back in my old donut tube and put my big fins and well conditioned legs to work. I all but threw up a roostertail getting out of there. That mad skunk kept up the pursuit for many yards out into the lake before recognizing that it could not catch me. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I have often wondered what my "punishment" would have been if the skunk had caught me. I know they bite and that some of them carry rabies. I doubt I would have been sprayed, because they have to be on solid ground to position themselves for the "blast".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I really was sorry. Sorry to lose my jig and sorry to have hurt the little feller. Although, I have also done my share to eradicate skunks in areas where they constitute a nuisance to residents and a hazard to the public during rabies outbreaks. They are still cute animals and make good pets.[/#0000ff]
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