Wally Smith had heard the rural myth that skunks would eat not only your chicken eggs but your chickens too! But Wally was a doubter when it came to rumor. The day arrived when he was able to prove that the skunk story was myth. Wally had built a chicken run and had enclosed it with chicken wire on the sides and roof and had a man door for access.He attached the run to the coop which was a wooden enclosed structure, which also had a man door. The chickens had their own access, a ground level door only big enough for them to enter and exit. Inside he built eight cubicles for egg laying. He also built a roost platform which stood two feet off the floor. It had several poles extending the length of the platform to accommodate the twenty odd chickens for their nights rest.

For  the run and the coop, each had a water bucket as well as several feeding troughs.

He built another small shed where he stored the grain, mash pellets and oyster shell. The whole apparatus was a feeding ground for mice. There was always a trap in the feed shed. On one given evening, Wally forgot to close the man door to the run which was always left open all day so the chickens could range freely. When he went to feed his brood in the morning, he noticed the scent of skunk, but when one lives next to Park Rill one must expect to encounter the odor now and then. Upon entering the coop, he saw a blur dash under the roost. When he got down on all fours he saw a skunk glaring back at him from the far corner. Wally let it be and finished his chicken chores thinking all the time that the visitor would depart ASAP. The visitor remained for three days feeding on the mice. It could have supplemented its diet with mash pellets.The skunk may have drunk water from the bucket or gone to the creek which was close by. The chickens didn’t seem to mind it’s presence either because there wasn’t blood in their yokes which happened when they got overly excited.  Wally got the same number of eggs every day and didn’t lose one chicken to the visitor. It is very easy to blame the skunk for ills since its presence is always known and it is an opportunist. It will take a free meal any day.