Mama skunk moving her nest

[terrib]

I'm thinking I need to have the de-skunking formula on hand. The chances of my cat staying out of trouble with this mama moving into our barn is pretty slim.

C&C appreciated but I'm pretty happy to have gotten these. First I had to catch the cat who spotted and headed toward the skunk, then I had to get the camera and then fired off the first few shots before realizing I hadn't left it in my normal "ready" settings. Must look at the settings EVERY time! geez.

[Brownbear]

beautiful captures

[Otavio]

Hi Terri. Nice captures of a beautiful animal. I would love to see them in a larger size. Thanks for sharing.

[Mike Buckley]

Fascinating! I had no idea that a skunk ever stood up on its hind legs.

Does your camera allow you to store your settings on a memory card so they can be uploaded at the outset of a shoot? If so, that's a sure-fire method of quickly knowing your settings are as you want them without having to check them.

[jprzybyla]

Great capture Terri, as others have written... fascinating. I never would have thought that would happen.

[Shadowman]

Very nice.

[kdoc856]

Nice work, Terri.

#1 tells the story and does justice to both Mom and babe. #2 requires a little 'splainin and I dont' prefer that background to the first one.

As Mike just alluded to, if your camera allows memory settings, it is well worth the little bit of time it takes to set them up. I have three settings in memory, so I can hit one button to get all the appropriate settings for each of 3 circumstances. And maybe best of all, I don't have to remember to reverse them later (I was notorious for not remembering that, esp. the IS setting.

Excellent work!

[Bobobird]

Great shots. When he/she understands you are no threat the chemical reaction may not come and you can get even closer.... ???

[terrib]

Thanks everyone for your comments. She was actually running and these caught her mid air so she's not actually standing up on her hind legs. She also wet because the grass was wet.

As to the settings, I do use my custom buttons for storing often used settings - none of which were particularly good for this scenario. I was using shutter priority and set the speed to a reasonable level but I thought the ISO was on Auto and didn't actually look at the exposure indicators. It's a bad habit I have of concentrating on the subject and not also noting the numbers in the viewfinder when I'm not on Manual.

Since she's moved into our barn, I may get a chance to improve the shots but I'm not sure I'll chance getting closer.

[Mike Buckley]

It's a bad habit I have of concentrating on the subject and not also noting the numbers in the viewfinder

For some inexplicable reason, I notice the aperture indication (perhaps because I usually shoot in Aperture Priority mode) but I never notice the ISO value. Go figure.

[NorthernFocus]

I laughed when I read your commentary. I could just see the Keystone Cop routine going on. The first shot is really an excellent behavioral. I can't wait to see/hear future episodes of this drama Thanks for sharing.

[terrib]

Mike, that makes me feel better to know I'm not the only one!

Dan, I'm laughing with you. Keystone Cops is pretty much how it felt.