Oh I LOVE the skunk pictures!!! What a cutie!!!
Another passing thought kids...Once upon a time there was this lady who lived almost fifty years without owning a dog. Always at least 1 cat, but dogs were needy, smelly, drooly, messy, bitey...<sounds like a human toddler don't it?> Fine for other people certainly and fun to visit but she wasn't going to ever live with one.
Then the lady's human kids flew the nest, she wanted someone to walk with...and bathe...and fuss over. The cats all sat in their individual windows waiting for the food dish to refill. Her hubby was glued to the TV...she had seen Petlooker or Pet something as a way to search for animals, maybe she could just look...
And you know the end of the fable, lady and dog met and fell in love and trotted off into the sunset together. The moral of the story...even if you can't feature yourself with a cat or chipmunk or parrot...hey, never say never...sometimes you just need to meet the right critter.