{"id":1176,"date":"2017-12-16T15:46:11","date_gmt":"2017-12-16T21:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ericsiegmund.com\/gazette\/2017\/12\/16\/171215_skunk3\/"},"modified":"2022-04-05T17:40:22","modified_gmt":"2022-04-05T22:40:22","slug":"171215_skunk3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ericsiegmund.com\/fireant\/2017\/12\/16\/171215_skunk3\/","title":{"rendered":"Another day…another skunk. This time, with 100% more me."},"content":{"rendered":"

I woke up around 4:00 a.m. a few days ago (hold your snark; you’ll be old someday, too), and detected the unmistakable odor of skunk. I found this a bit unsettling, but not enough to get out of bed to investigate. I rolled over and went back to sleep.<\/p>\n

\"RaccoonA few hours later, I opened the garage door to check the trap, although I was pretty sure I knew what Id find. Sure enough, yet another skunk had checked into Citter Inn. As with the preceding<\/a> two<\/a>, I decided to record the release, and that’s documented in the video below.<\/p>\n

While only you can decide whether it’s worth spending 4 minutes and 6 seconds (plus load time) of your life watching this video (the TL:DW<\/acronym> version is that I didn’t get sprayed), I hope you will for a few reasons.<\/p>\n

First, this is a really pretty skunk. I’m not sure who represents the standard for human beauty nowadays — for women, perhaps it’s one of these<\/a>; for guys…well, you’re on your own there — but let’s say this critter is the Scarlett Johansson of the skunk world.<\/p>\n

Second, toward the end of the video you’ll see some interaction between different species as recorded by my game camera, as well as the evidence of one whose affinity for and effort to acquire sardines was unparalleled. <\/p>\n

\"MeBut, really, the most important reason is that I’d like to have your feedback about something. Rather than use captions to describe what’s going on in the video, I took a shot at doing a voiceover narration. I’d be really interested to know whether you have a preference about captions vs. narration (or would BOTH be preferable?).<\/p>\n

I’d also welcome feedback about the quality of the audio, although that’s less important. I recognize that my recording environment is less than ideal, particularly since we’ve cleared the shelves and walls of all content in preparation for remodeling. The sound is pretty echo-y as a result. Also, the webcam microphone is not exactly professional quality. I did try some pretty high-end Bose headphones as an external mic, but the results were actually less pleasing than the webcam, which I thought was strange.<\/p>\n

Anyway, here’s how much I’d like your feedback: I’ve actually reinstated the comments section on the Gazette. It’s been years since I’ve allowed comments on any posts because of the overwhelming volume of spam I had to deal with (you can ask any blogger and they’ll tell you the same thing…it’s ridiculous). But I’m willing to put up with it in order to see some legitimate feedback. So, feel free to let me know what you think…and thanks in advance!<\/p>\n

Without further ado…allow me to present Scarle…uh…another skunk.<\/p>\n