Lyn Hinds of Crafts Field Way in Edgartown emerged from her outdoor shower one recent afternoon to find herself face to face with a young skunk. Each frightened the other and each fled without incident. But Mrs. Hinds had a long enough glimpse of the skunk to see that its nose was encased in a jelly jar.

That meant certain death for the skunk, and probably a lingering one. Something had to be done. Mrs. Hinds turned on her garden hose and went to the deck under which the skunk had taken refuge. She (not the skunk) squirted. The soggy skunk came head first out of his hiding place, virtually into its benefactor’s arms, enabling her to pull the jelly jar off its nose. The grateful skunk scurried away — once more without any untoward skunk-like incident.

A few days later, walking near the deck where her skunk friend had dug his hole, Mrs. Hinds tripped and broke her foot. She is now in a cast and walking with a cane. She does not blame the skunk, nor does she feel heroic about her bravery in her skunk encounter. What else could she have done but pull the bottle off the nose of her under-deck denizen, she asks.

— Phyllis Meras