AHHHHH Skunks!!!!
Does Bowen Island have a skunk or grow-op problem?
As many B.C. residents will attest to, it is rather hard to distinguish the difference in smell between exhaust produced by a marijuana grow-operation and the odorous spray produced by a frighten skunk. Skunks are naturally a slow-moving animal and their only defense is to spray, and the dogs on Bowen Island are now aware of this. The population of skunks on this small island has sky rocketed over the last few years and the fingers are pointing to dumpsters. And when I say dumpsters, I refer to an alleged pest control company with low morals and a desire to create a problem that never existed (perhaps create a niche market). How many skunks are on the island now is open to dispute. Reportedly, a pest control truck was parked in a bush on Bowen Island and was spotted releasing two black and white creatures into the wild. The B.C. Conservation Officer Service was notified of this suspicious behavior and the offending pest control company was notified. Under the Provincial Wildlife Act, penalties for this offense of dumping wildlife can be up to $100,000 or a year in jail for a first conviction. Guidelines written by the BC SPCA stipulate that any skunk captured on private land needs to be released on Crown land within 10 km of where they were captured. One island resident stated that “this whole thing just really stinks”.
