A Stink-Badger, The Beach, Bamboo, & The Need For Gasmasks

When building our home on the farm, we struggled to find somewhere to rent nearby. Finally we found a literal shack on a small hill overlooking the beach. Made of bamboo, no lock on the door, openings with mesh as windows, and a small bedroom. The floor was cut bamboo with wide gaps and too much flexibility for my comfort.

Our Temporary Home

The best part was the decking overlooking the water, it was bigger than the shack itself and we spent more time eating, talking, thinking, living on that deck than inside the small bamboo box. We had 3000sqm of land around the hut filled with coconut trees and native wildlife that kept our two dogs busy until they wandered off to explore. Happily walking through massive gaps in the fencing.

The dogs used the walkway to the beach more than we did. They would frolic is the wind and chase the goats that would gather in the sand until they realised the goats were way bigger and not scared of their yappy voices. The dogs chased the goats until the goats joined the game and chased the dogs straight back into our yard.

Discovering The Stink-Badger

Stink-badgers are related to skunks, they spray when cornered or feel threatened, or in our experience even just to let you know they are passing. I had heard about these stinky creatures and their smell is truly horrific, but I had no idea they were in the north of Palawan where we lived. We found out the hard way and our dogs were obsessed with them.

There was a family of the little buggers living under the bamboo floor of the shack. The dogs found them one morning and our little home was filled with the smell of hells sewers. The spray they emitted rushed up through the gaps in the bamboo floor and circled our bed where we were relaxing before the day began.

There was NO escape.

We Burst Into Action

We moved fast, covering our noses and mouths, eyes watering, calling the dogs. The shack was so small, there was nowhere to hide. We burst through the front door and onto the deck gasping for fresh air as we collapsed on the seats outside.

We could hear the dogs still hassling, barking and digging at something under the house. The stink-badgers. The dogs were not listening to us and there was no way for us to reach them. So we ignored them until they were ready to stop. The stench hadn’t deterred them, who were we to interrupt their fun.

We Enjoyed The View

The dogs eventually got tired. We sat chatting and enjoying the view. One of the things I loved about B was her ability to take things in her stride, it helped me (someone prone to panic) to learn how to do stress differently.

The dogs approached us, wagging their bottoms, and smiling like they had won the lottery. They came too close and the wave of stench hit us. We caught the stinky offenders and tied them up, bathing was not something they loved, and we didn’t want chasing them to be added to our to do list for the day.

B had a local recipe to eliminate the spray from the dogs. We were lucky the smell didn’t stay inside the hut. It was so open that the spray didn’t attach to any of the clothes or furniture. We spent hours that day washing the dogs, getting the smell out was difficult.

This was only the first time we encountered these smelly wilderness warriors. They loved the farm, would pass by our bedroom window with a waft of their perfume just to let us know they were there.

peace out