Man Runs to His Porch Just in Time to Avoid a Pack of Unlikely Animals

“What’s up?” a voice nervously asks after a friend walks off the front porch, looks to their left, and quickly turns back around and jogs up the steps. At first, viewers of the video uploaded by Kelly McCaig might expect the worst. Is it a rabid dog lumbering down the street? An actual gator sighting (unlike the lizard mistaken for a gator incident last week)? But the reality was much less heinous, and actually rather cute! See the surprising pack in the video below. Would is this sight have you scrambling back to the porch and safety?

Even though the skunk family was scurrying along, minding their own business, it’s best that the man in the video got away and let them “have the right of way,” so to speak. According to Animalogic, when skunks spray, they release a ghastly-smelling yellow liquid from their anal glands that has some chemical compounds similar to those of decaying animals. That’s why they’re so unbelievably smelly. “Up close, a skunk’s spray is almost like tear gas, and vomiting is not an uncommon reaction,” they explain in the video.

Getting rid of the smell isn’t easy. Tomato juice isn’t going to cut it. A mixture of hydrogen peroxide, dishwashing soap, and baking soda is the best bet for anyone unlucky enough to have suffered a close encounter with a skunk.

Have you ever had a close encounter with a skunk? Were you sprayed or did you manage to escape? We certainly hope it didn’t end as a stinky experience for you, but if it did, how did you ever get rid of the reek? Be sure to share your story with us. We want to know!