Deer, Chickens, Dogs... and a Skunk

I've been filming since Sunday.  Am pretty tired, but have to get up again tomorrow at 5:30 to get to Gail's just after the sun rises over the hill to the East of her deer pasture.  The light at that time is spectacular.  


Gail's dogs, Sam and Cinder, got skunked the other night.  We heard a loud sort of wailing-yelp from the chicken house.  Gail looked up from what she was doing and said "that's the sound they make when they've caught an animal... probably a rat."  (The hen houses have rats -- and these dogs are incredible at catching them -- otherwise they eat too much expensive organic chicken feed.)  A few minutes later, the two pooches came running to us.  The scent of skunk was immediately obvious.  It was so strong that I felt my sinuses burn.  Gail and I searched the hen house but there was no sign of any casualties.  Apparently the dogs slept on the porch that night.


Skunk fix:  Gail mixes hydrogen peroxide with baking soda and wipes it onto the dogs coats with a wash cloth -- to neutralize the skunk's spray in their fur.   I thought people used tomato juice -- Gail says that doesn't work. So there you have it.  I realized I'd never experienced a skunk like this before -- only the lingering scent of one that's been run over on the highway. 


But here's the real surprise... at least it was for me.  Apparently skunks are big chicken-killers.  I had no idea.  So the dogs did a good job.   All the hens were safe, and Sam and Cinder were smelling sweet again after Gail's skunk remedy.  It wasn't fun for her, but Gail just takes all of this in stride.


Tomorrow morning I'll be shooting from on top of the higher roof of the second chicken house.   That will allow me to film the deer without fences in the way, and hopefully they won't be disturbed by me. I'll be lying down on the roof with my camera on a "hi-hat" (which Gail's friend Jerry rigged for me today by attaching it to 3 blocks of wood -- for stability and so that my tripod handle clears the ground underneath.)  The "hi-hat" allows me shoot with my tripod head, but it is super low to the ground.  After I get set up on the roof, Gail will lure the deer down with corn, and I hope to get some good images of the baby fawns.  Today Gail counted 21.  They are pretty cute.  And they can run like the wind.

Will let you know how it goes!!!