The Best Part of Waking Up

is the smell of fresh coffee wafting up the stairs!
 Unfortunately the last two mornings I have been rudely jerked out of my soft slumber by the strong, pungent smell of a skunk. UGH!!! It's a lingering odor that is still in my yard when I go out for morning chores, sometimes an hour after I've woke up. Of course I could do without the inconvenience of the smell, but even more worrisome is the fact that a predator is hanging around my rabbits and chickens.
 My animals are locked up but a predator (possibly a skunk, it left a strong odor) has gotten into my rabbit cages before- by going through the feeder opening. Since then, we've switched to feeders that hang inside the cage and eliminated the hole there. And a few weeks ago, I discovered a possum inside the chicken coop. It killed my two just-hatched chicks and one of the pullets before I found it. The possum was dispatched but I've not figured out a way to make the coop more predator proof. The only way I could figure the possum got in was through the little door- in broad daylight! The rabbit cages and chicken coop are inside a fence but there are gaps around the gate that a small predator can get through and some branches of a pine tree outside the fence hang over the inside. Soooo we aren't 100% tight. And I'm 100% worried.
 This morning as I was walking out the door, heading to church, I heard the most awful screeching coming from the chicken coop. The automatic door hadn't opened yet so my mind was picturing all my birds locked up with a chicken-killing skunk. My heart was in my throat as I took off running for the coop. My purse went flying across the yard and I ripped my skirt on the gate as I raced to save my flock from the evil skunk! Before I opened the people door, I grabbed a shovel to kill the monster and peeked in the window to locate my enemy and make a plan of action. What I saw was... all the birds were clucking and flapping, lined up waiting for their door to open- except one. That one was doing a dance like I remember learning in middle school, strutting, and trying his best to break the glass with his high-pitched shrieks  crow. Just crow.
 So, I put the shovel up, retrieved my purse, went back inside to change my skirt, and made it to church with 2 minutes to spare.
 I guess as soon as the farm store opens, I will be buying a trap. Meantime, I'm sporting earplugs til that rooster learns his do re mi's!