I've fallen and I can't get out

It was no doubt a valiant struggle. But after falling into the Student Health Center's sunken atrium some time Wednesday night -- attempts at escape thwarted at every turn -- a seemingly dejected skunk huddled and hid under the garden's arched bridge when the clinic opened Thursday.

According to health records technician Jan Lenzini, a custodian discovered the "fur-person" in the Japanese-style garden around 5:30 a.m. Lenzini called for assistance after she arrived for work at 7:20 a.m.

"I called my supervisor and said I've never had to report anything like this in my 17 years here. 'Skunk in the atrium! Skunk in the atrium,'" she said, laughing.

Still etched in the dust-covered glass ceiling encircling the atrium, its little paw prints showed the wayward skunk's inevitable slide from freedom as he desperately fought to dig his claws into the sloping glass.

Having fallen nearly seven feet to the bottom of the enclosed atrium, the skunk spent the early morning hours trying to dig its way out, but was met at the edges of the octagon-shaped garden by only concrete and pipes.

Lenzini, who said she did not want to be known as the "skunk lady," called the University Police Department for advice. After discussing some options with the dispatcher, including providing a plank for the skunk to climb on to, the UPD decided to call San Francisco's Department of Animal Care and Control, Lenzini said.

Deputy Animal Control Officer Mike Holland arrived on the scene at 9:40 a.m.

Concerned that upsetting the skunk might cause a stink in the clinic, Holland elected to set a trap and wait, rather than trying to tranquilize -- and upsetting -- the critter.

"Skunks are really timid animals," he said. "That's why they squirt. It's not like they strut around marking their territory."

Holland placed the wire cage, baited with cat food, a few feet from where the skunk lay hiding. He covered the cage with a sheet.

"The less he can see, the less chance of squirting," he said. Holland added that dampening the sheet with water before removing the skunk would mute the smell -- just in case he sprayed when carried out.

In addition to the normal flow of patients Thursday, a steady flow of onlookers came to see "Pepe," as he was now known in the clinic, Lenzini said.

"It got pretty hairy," she said. "People would come by and say they heard a skunk was trapped." In addition to clients, she said there were up to ten sightseers at a time in the small clinic.

At one point during the morning, the very shy Pepe moved from under the bridge to a make-shift den under a rock on the edge of the garden. He stayed there for the rest of the day, his furry white stripes just inches away from prying eyes.

After the clinic closed, Pepe ventured out for a bite to eat and was finally trapped -- without incident -- while he sampled the cat food. Holland returned Friday morning to release him back to the wild.

"Generally we release skunks within one mile of where they're captured," he said. "This one probably came from Lake Merced."

Although the Lake Merced skunk population could not be reached for comment, it seems they, too, were aware of Pepe's plight.

According to Lenzini, the custodian who discovered the trapped skunk on Thursday said she saw another skunk the next morning poking around the edge of the atrium while Pepe lay trapped below.

[ back to Golden Gater Online September 19, 1995 ]

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