Stinky Skink!

On the front of the Little Bayou House, there is a small entryway.   I cannot really call it a "room" as it is so small and well, with only a screen door blocking the doorway, critters can more or less come and go as they please. This little room usually manages to collect everything that we have in our hands as we enter the front door.  At any given time, you can find anything from the broom to a fishing pole standing in the corner or anything from cat food to a bucket sitting on the floor.  It just seems to be the dropping off point of things that can't stay outside but really do not belong inside.  And there the stuff sits until the day that I fall over something and go on a tossing rampage!  Then, once everything is put back in its place, I vow to keep it clean...hahahaha..that never happens!  This past week, a couple of small galvanized pails were set on the floor "just until I watered the plants the next time".  So they sat.

This morning as I opened the front door to let the breeze waft through the house, I nearly gagged!  Ugh!  I slammed the door thinking that the cat must have been hunting again and dragged her prize indoors.  Something was dead!  And that something smelled strong enough that I knew it must be in the entryway.  I thought of calling Michael in from still another repair job on the dog pen but decided that I could muster enough courage to tackle whatever was causing my entryway to reek!  Armed with a spritz bottle of Mr. Clean (oh, how I wish that man would come clean this mess like he does in the commercials!), a roll of paper towels, a box (in case I needed to rid the room of something "nasty") and the broom, I cautiously opened the door again.  Ugh!  Something was definitely deceased in there!  I peered through the doorway..this was not going to be fun at all!  This was not the most delightful way to start the morning!

The first course of action was to open all of the windows and doors!  The breeze should pull the odor outside!  I flung open all that I could and then the search began!  It was not a difficult task as there in one of the galvanized pails, laid the victim!  Obviously a broad-headed skink had crawled into the pail and could not climb back out.  I felt bad as he must have died a slow, horrible death of dehydration.  The broad-headed skink is quite a large lizard as it can get up to a foot in length.  They usually stay near wood piles or mulch piles but somehow this one had made the disastrous choice to venture inside.  Once there, another bad decision to climb into the bucket led to his demise.  At least..and this is sad to say..it was rather easy to discard the critter!  After giving him a nice burial under the lemon tree, I went back inside to see if I could conjure up that Mr. Clean fellow and convince him to scour the entryway!  Nope..didn't happen...see if I believe those TV commercials any more!