The Cat in the Crawl Space

It was nearing the end of summer when one evening I saw what I thought was a cat jump over our backyard fence and dash towards the corner of our home. I quickly ran after it only to see it disappear in the crawl space under the house.

So I rushed to our rumpus room where Dad’s tool chest was stored and found a flashlight. Within a minute I was underneath the house looking for the alleged cat.

I found it and unfortunately it wasn’t too happy to see me.

The last thing I remember before nearly gagging to death, followed by violent vomiting, was seeing the animal turn its tail towards me and stamp its feet. Next thing I know, a stream of moisture kicked up the dust between us and I was engulfed in a foul-smelling stench.

Within seconds I realized I had misidentified what kind of cat had found its way under our home. The long-lasting odor chased everyone out of the house for a couple of hours and forced my parents to bathe me in about five-gallons of tomato juice.

It turned out to be more than a regular house cat, but rather a pole-cat – or what is commonly referred to as a skunk.