Good News about the skunk who needed a ride home

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TORONTO (Reuters) - A stowaway skunk that ended up in Canada after

travelling more than 3,500-kilometres (2,200 miles) shut in the back

of a lorry from California has found a ride home.

 

" We do have a confirmed ride now back to California, " said Nathalie

Karvonen, executive director at the Toronto Wildlife Centre, which

has been caring for the skunk since January 5. " There is a host of a

radio show in California and (the) producer who are actually taking

time off work. "

 

The brave pair -- whose names weren't immediately known on Wednesday -

- will rendezvous with centre officials just across the U.S. border

in either Buffalo or Detroit, where the handover of the female skunk

will take place, Karvonen said.

 

" We don't know when yet, " she said. " We're still trying to get the

paperwork worked out with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "

 

Karvonen estimates it will be between a week and 10 days before the

skunk, which has not been named, can head home.

 

It is believed the skunk dozed off in a load of piping being stored

in a yard in California. The cargo was later transferred to a lorry

bound for Mississauga, Ontario, just west of Toronto, with the

unsuspecting skunk aboard.

 

The animal survived its seven-day journey across the United States

and into Canada without food and water.

 

While airlines usually agree to return such " accidental travelers "

for free, this time there were no takers, Karvonen said.

 

The return road trip is seen as something of a risk for those brave

enough to chauffeur the black-and-white striped animal home. And,

Karvonen has warned, there is no no-spray guarantee.

 

Skunks can blast targets as far away as 3 metres (10 feet) with their

notoriously stinky spray, leaving their victims with stinging eyes

and gasping for air.