Pesticide Perceptions

A Skunk Remedy That Works

Here's a new way to "de-smell" pets that get into tangles with
skunks. Paul Krebaum works in a lab in Lisle, Illinois, that uses
alkaline hydrogen peroxide to scrub hydrogen sulfide from waste
gas streams. The alkaline hydrogen peroxide also destroys 
chemicals called thiols in certain situations.

One of Krebaum's colleague's cats had an unfortunate encounter
with a skunk. After trying the standard remedies, like tomato
juice, the cat still smelled too bad to let back into the house.
As a chemist, Krebaum realized that skunk spray is composed
mostly of low-molecular thiols, and suggested using a version of
the alkaline hydrogen peroxide mixture to wash the cat. It worked
like magic, and the cat was allowed back into the house.

Tom McCutcheon, a biologist with the West Virginia Department of
Agriculture who often gets calls from people whose pets get mixed
up with skunks, heard about the incident. He went out and found a
road-killed skunk, doused the entire animal with the same mix of
chemicals, and ended up with a completely deodorized dead skunk. 

Here's the potion:
     1 quart of 3% hydrogen peroxide (from a pharmacy)
     1/4 cup baking soda
     1 teaspoon liquid soap
     Mix together and wash, keeping the mixture out of the
     animal's eyes, nose and mouth. Follow with a thorough tap
     water rinse. 

(Source: Natural and Environmental Resource Report/American Farm
Bureau Federation August 1995)
  
Coordinator's comment: If you try this, let me know how it works.