An Encounter with Wildlife

The other morning, I thought, "Hmmmm.  Smells like a skunk in this house."  As I walked into the living room, the smell got stronger.  It smelled amazingly like a burning vacuum cleaner belt.  I smelled the fur of Max, an eight year old pound hound.  No skunk smell.  I then checked out Pudge, a 2 year old puggle.  He was okay too.  On to Maui, a 2 year old mini dachsund.  Lord have mercy!  She had to have a bath with tomato juice and shampoo, and even then, she still smelled like a skunk.  After I got home from work, I let the three dogs out, and Maui promptly went under the deck where she commenced to bark,  "Arf!  Arf!  Arf!  Arf!  Arf!"  I went to the side opening and imagine my surprise when I saw the hind end of something black and white striped and furry.  My daughter tried to use the hose to squirt through the top of the deck onto the barking dog.  Maui would come out and go back under.  Finally, she came out from under the deck, mouth full of skunk oil.  Paper towel to clean out her mouth and another bath.  That night, a big wish that Miss Skunk would waddle out from under the deck and find another location.  And though it's impossible to know for sure, Miss Maui, has gone under the deck, but has not barked like a wild thing.  So, we can hope.  It still smells of skunk outside and the basement level has a residual odor.  This morning, when I looked outside and saw the garbage strewn all over the backyard, I wondered about the culprit--dog or skunk?