COMMENTARY OCTOBER 19, 2023 Volume 31, Number 9
COVER PHOTO: Jonas Leuenberger PUBLISHER: Fran Zankowski
EDITORIAL
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Caitlin Rockett ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR: Jezy J. Gray REPORTERS: Kaylee Harter, Will Matuska FOOD EDITOR: John Lehndorff INTERN: Lily Fletcher CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Emma Athena, Will Brendza, Rob Brezsny, Michael J. Casey, Kelly Dean Hansen, Richard Rubin, Dan Savage, Toni Tresca, Colin Wrenn
SALES AND MARKETING
MARKET DEVELOPMENT MANAGER: Kellie Robinson SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Matthew Fischer ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Chris Allred SPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGER: Carter Ferryman MRS. BOULDER WEEKLY: Mari Nevar
PRODUCTION
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Erik Wogen SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Mark Goodman CIRCULATION MANAGER: Cal Winn CIRCULATION TEAM: Sue Butcher, Ken Rott, Chris Bauer
BUSINESS OFFICE
BOOKKEEPER: Emily Weinberg FOUNDER/CEO: Stewart Sallo
WRITERS ON THE RANGE
WHEN A SKUNK GOES AFTER YOUR GARDEN BY RICHARD RUBIN
S
kunks love autumn as our backyard gardens fill up with ripe vegetables. But in my northern New Mexico corn patch, that meant a determined skunk chowing down on ears of corn every night. What followed next was a conundrum: I wanted it gone but didn’t know how to make that happen. My initial attempt, spreading coyote-urine crystals from the hardware store, failed to repel the raids. Then a Norteño gardener friend advised hanging mothballs in bags on the fence. Nope, no effect. 4
OCTOBER 19, 2023
My plumber friend said he got rid of a big skunk family that took up residence under his mother’s house by borrowing a trap from the county’s agriculture extension agent. He used cat food as bait — but all he caught was cats. Switching to fresh eggshells, he said he caught the entire skunk family, one striped marauder at a time. A farmer neighbor’s advice was similar: “Get a Havahart trap.” I got one and the skunk ended up inside, but then what? I called Taos County Animal Control. The agent said they don’t
handle skunks and gave me two options: a private critter-control outfit or dropping it off myself “somewhere in the mountains.” And oh yes, be sure to cover the trap with a tarp when you approach to block possible spray, and minimize alarming the animal because you know why. Not wanting to release the skunk in the yard where it might spray my dogs, I recruited an agile friend to carry the cage about 400 yards away to a fallow field protected by a conservation easement. The cornchomper was back the next night.
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