Pooch Cafe by Paul Gilligan for April 20, 2021

Poncho mistaking a skunk for a squirrel is like Sylvester mistaking a kangaroo for a giant mouse (and of course Pepe LePew a black cat with a white stripe along its back for another skunk). In the meantime, time for Chaz to get out the tomato juice for Poncho’s outdoor bath.

Looks like the facts scent the skunk into defense mode which caused a huge stink!

After panel 3, “Big Squirrel” says: “Check out this chemical.”

Poncho there are times when you have to let things go ;-)

First time my late wife(then age 27) saw a skunk she tried coaxing it over to her because she thought it was a cat. My step daughter (age 12) actually walked our dog up to a skunk so they could say hi to it. She also thought it was a cat. Wife did not get sprayed. Step daughter did.

Well, now there is a nasty chemical reaction if ever I’ve seen one.

Tomato juice bath coming right up.

‘Costco, we need tomato juice, stat.’

Good morning GoComics Family. Have a bountiful day.

Way to go, Poncho!

Time for the 5 lb. box of baking soda.

Your dog…..

Pull my finger.

You just had to push it, didn’t you?

Skunk odor from a distance of oh, say, 1/2 mile to a mile isn’t too bad, but close up (in you dog’s fur and you’re cleaning the dog) it’s an awful stench that is detectable by humans at a concentration of 0.1 ppb (parts per billion). You do not want to be there. And tomato juice only covers it up a little by giving your nose something different to smell.

I wonder if those data are accurate. My son, the field biologist, convinced me to stop my yard service when he was still an undergraduate about 15 years ago. Needless to say, I do not have a grassy yard.

My job at the museum included skinning and stuffing (dead) animals. Before attempting my first skunk my supervisor gave me an anatomy lesson on where the scent glands were. After half-an-hour delicately castrating my skunk I took the scalpel and slashed open both intact scent glands. A few days later (when he could approach me safely) he admitted the same thing had happened to him the first time too!

I was raised in the country, so there’s no excuse for being as dumb as I was one time. I was out riding my pony when I heard a rustling sound in some nearby bushes. I got off the pony and went to investigate. A skunk sprayed me dead center! My pony didn’t want to let me back on (having horse sense, as she did), and I thought I was going to have to walk home. But she finally did let me on so I could get home. I did NOT repeat that mistake again!