Once we were returning from Whitehall after picking up a friend who had arrived on the “Laurentian.” My daughter, who was driving, made a sudden stop. Crossing the road in front of us was a curious looking animal which upon closer inspection proved to be a skunk, its head completely covered by a tin can. The poor creature crossed and recrossed the road. When it hit the weeds by the road-side it always turned and came back. This continued as three helpless women stood and wondered what to do. A young man came along in a car and sensing that something was wrong, stopped. I said to him, “It’s a skunk! But I have read that if you pick a skunk up by its tail it will not be offensive.” The brave man did so. Mr. Skunk seemed to know that someone was trying to help him and assisted by pushing the can with his paws, twisting and turning the can until it finally came off, leaving a bloody little neck. The skunk stood there on the bank, looking bewildered, but he was odorless. He seemed to be trying to say “Thank you.” I said to the young man, “That was one of the nicest things I have ever seen done and I think you deserve a Carnegie medal.”
by
Elizabeth H. W. Danforth
circa 1920-1930
Published in Hamlet Summers: 1950
The Danforths came to Huletts Landing in 1909 when “Forest Lodge” became their summer home.