Little Nick is gone. I *think* all the Swifts have left. The chimney is very quiet. But the twittering of the Chimney Swifts will still be in the house. Kramer and the cockateils have learned the Swift song and repeat it very well! LOL! :-) Yesterday I went to let the doggies back inside and saw a female House Sparrow in the breezeway. "Ah Sweetheart. How did you get in here?" The squirrels had chewed a hole in one of the screens to get to the seeds and she must have wriggled her way in too. For a while she was sitting next to Bub, the Grackle. She was so frightened I didn't try to catch her because I didn't want her to get hurt. I took one quicky photograph of her then opened the doors. She flew the length of the breezeway turned and flew back out the door. LOL! Just what kinda house is this? Wild birds don't normally enter a house do they? Maybe I should ask Mike to turn off the huge VACANCY sign out front? C3D

Skunks are not excitable by nature. If you move cautiously and don't threaten it in any way it will not spray. Skunks don't want to spray you. They do so only as a last resort when they feel threatened. Amazingly most skunks like people and can get quite friendly over time once they trust you. I used to have a wild skunk in Oklahoma that would come in when the door was open and beg chocolate chip cookies. It was very particular. It had to be chocolate chip. No snickerdoodles thank you. You should be safe moving the chips little by little. If mama skunk has babies in there she will move them once the pile is disturbed, just as a cat will move kittens. A skunk has a graduated set of signals most use. Fluffing the tail means,"You're making me nervous". Patting the ground with the front feet or stomping the hind feet means,"Watch it buster". Turning their back on you means,"MOVE IT and I mean RIGHT NOW!". Skunks are not mute but will seldom vocalize around humans.

First using moth balls in the manner you are describing is illegal, a violation of federal law. The active ingrediant in moth balls is a class one carcinogen so handling them strictly by the directions on the package is esential. The best way to keep the skunk, or any other critter, from taking up residence under your house is to plug any access points while they are out, or better before they decide to try cohabitating with you.

I have as follows from the animal babies collection: Bat Baby Blue Bird Baby Bumblebee baby Dalmation Baby Elephant Baby Fox baby Horse baby Koala baby Lab baby Lion baby Panda baby Penguin baby Raccoon baby Reindeer baby Skunk baby Sparrow baby Tiger baby If anyone has any ones that I have not listed please e-mail me...