Chunk and Skunk
T’was a cold and wet Thursday afternoon. I was standing on the roof of one of the science buildings at school looking at a 300 Lb. Dead Sea lion. Yes that’s right I said Dead Sea lion! It had been up there for the last five days so the odder was like none you have ever smelt before. I stood in the back of the group not only because of the smell but because I was feeling some apprehension after a termatic incident the previous week where I passed out in another class when the teacher cut open an animal. I must now defend my pride by saying that I did not pass out because of the blood (seeing that a very dead rat has little to no blood in it) but because I locked my knees cutting blood flow to my brain. I mean really, who needs blood flow to the brain anyways…
After overcoming my nervousness I jumped right in to helping with the flensing of the animal. (For you that don’t know what flensing is it is when you remove all the left over flesh and fat from the body after the organs have been removed.) I was having a splendid time hacking away until the person next too me dropped a big old chunk of fat in to a pool of blood that was next to the animal. It splashed all over me. Some time later someone also bumped the gurney causing a wave of blood and other juices to spill all over side and on to my shoes and legs! Although I had been smart enough to bring something to change in to it is very hard to get the smell of decomposing flesh off your skin and hair.
After class I did not have time go home and shower so it was right of to church. No one seem to notice the smell there and I even went to dinner with a friends and he did not seem to notice either. If he had smelt me there could have been a puke-fest at Applebee’s! What a site that would have been! After having a great dinner with a great friend, I was of home for my long awaited shower.
Now you may think the story end here but it does not! The next morning I dragged my ass out of bed at 5:00 am to go tromp through the mud and check traps with a few other students from my mammaolgy class. To our surprise and there was a skunk in one of the large traps. The three of us stood at a safe 10ft distance as we watched the grad student try and get the skunk out with out getting sprayed. This is a very fun thing to watch! Needless to say the goal was not accomplished. The skunk got her good, and I was glad to have been standing away. It was not until the ride home that I discovered that even at a safe distance of 10 ft. You are still going to smell like skunk!
So the moral of the story is that if you see me on a Tue. or Thur. I might smell really bad!
After overcoming my nervousness I jumped right in to helping with the flensing of the animal. (For you that don’t know what flensing is it is when you remove all the left over flesh and fat from the body after the organs have been removed.) I was having a splendid time hacking away until the person next too me dropped a big old chunk of fat in to a pool of blood that was next to the animal. It splashed all over me. Some time later someone also bumped the gurney causing a wave of blood and other juices to spill all over side and on to my shoes and legs! Although I had been smart enough to bring something to change in to it is very hard to get the smell of decomposing flesh off your skin and hair.
After class I did not have time go home and shower so it was right of to church. No one seem to notice the smell there and I even went to dinner with a friends and he did not seem to notice either. If he had smelt me there could have been a puke-fest at Applebee’s! What a site that would have been! After having a great dinner with a great friend, I was of home for my long awaited shower.
Now you may think the story end here but it does not! The next morning I dragged my ass out of bed at 5:00 am to go tromp through the mud and check traps with a few other students from my mammaolgy class. To our surprise and there was a skunk in one of the large traps. The three of us stood at a safe 10ft distance as we watched the grad student try and get the skunk out with out getting sprayed. This is a very fun thing to watch! Needless to say the goal was not accomplished. The skunk got her good, and I was glad to have been standing away. It was not until the ride home that I discovered that even at a safe distance of 10 ft. You are still going to smell like skunk!
So the moral of the story is that if you see me on a Tue. or Thur. I might smell really bad!