Skunks Apparently Like Peanut Butter

Who knew? James and I collected a few pine cones yesterday and made little 'treats' for the squirrels. Yeah, I know, its totally out of character for me, and no, I didn't bait a trap with the treats. No, for the sake of my son's education, I thought I would let him feed one of the lowliest in the animal kingdom: the tree rat. We coated the pine cones in peanut butter and rolled them in sunflower seeds. It wasn't 5 minutes before a squirrel found the treats and had a nibble. James watched him from just inside the window, which was quite exciting! The squirrel apparently didn't have a family to feed, because he left a majority of the goods behind. It didn't really get that exciting in the wild green yonder that is our backyard until sometime between 3:00 am and 5. Katie was up a countless number of times last night. At one point, I wandered in my sleep deprived stupor to look out the kitchen window. Low and behold, there was a skunk, directly outside the window, munching on the pine cones. Apparently, skunks have a sweet spot for peanut butter smeared pine cones. This morning, there was nothing left. It even appears that he dismantled one pine cone piece by piece to remove every trace of deliciousness. Now we have spotted, in the wild and untamed reaches of our suburban yard, a groundhog, a opposum, various rabbits, assorted tree rats, and a SKUNK! Next up, a moose! Now wouldn't that be the berries?

On a semi-related sidenote, what is the world coming to? I used the handy Google Image finder to look up a picture of a skunk of James. And what did I find? Well, for every picture of a skunk, there was a picture of skunk. If you get my drift. Skunk weed. Mary Jane. You can actually order seeds for skunk weed from various overseas seed vendors. One place even described the flavor and the type of high it gives you. Wow. Now that's the internet at work for you.