No doubt those little stinkers are cute! I have run into skunks many a time in the woods, prairies, and in town. Other than the initial shock, calm quickly resumed and we got on with our personal lives with little or no disturbance.
Once while antelope hunting, I had crawled as close as I could get to a herd without exposing myself too badly. I settled into an old buffalo wallow and relaxed, watching the herd slowly graze across the prairie towards me. I heard an odd snuffling noise behind me and turned to see an scarred faced, notched ear boss stink-cat occupying the wallow with me. I quietly said "hello" and introduced myself. Her shiny black nose was dancing back and forth as she took in my scent (which after 5 days of camping and hard hunting was not inconsiderable). She moved up to take a position about 4 ft off my right shoulder on the side of the buffalo wallow and settled in, almost as if keeping company. When it became obvious she was not leaving and was not the least concerned about my continued presence, I decided to snack on some of the fruit in my vest pockets. Being of the Western mindset, I offered to share. I tossed her a few bites of apple and a couple grapes. The apple was eaten, but the grapes were something she turned an indifferent eye towards. Eventually, some road hunters drove up on the gravel road a half mile off and began throwing Hail Mary rounds into the air and I had to backcrawl the hell out of there to keep from being plugged.
I kinda regret bailing out on such a pleasant hunting companion.
