Tara Jeffrey
The recent “float down’ and unexpected arrival of U.S. visitors brought to mind another memorable rescue on the St. Clair River, at least for me.
In 2010, a rough-around-the-edges, ex-customs officer from Port Huron named Richard Hisscock contacted me with an unusual request: “I need help saving a skunk.”
The avid fisherman had been boating with his wife and grandkids when they spotted a skunk trapped on a small patch of land on Sarnia’s waterfront.
“If I saw one of them in my backyard I'd probably shoot it,” he told me. "But after my grandkids saw this thing, and said 'Papa, we've got to feed it’ -- well, it starts to grow on ya.”
The family returned nightly to check on the skunk -- which they named Pepe -- throwing food and even a makeshift ladder to help him climb over the breakwall.
“We've tried everything short of getting on shore and grabbing him," Hisscock said. "But what are you gonna do with a skunk in a trap on a boat?”
Over the next few weeks, feeding and checking on Pepe became a regular ritual. Even his fishing pals got involved, ordering a bumper stickers that read: “Life is short. Save a skunk.”
But as cooler weather loomed, Pepe began looking frail and Hisscock worried he wouldn’t survive much longer.
So I agreed to do a story, boarded his boat, and joined the quest to save Pepe, who by then was huddled in a small outlet pipe. We tossed apples and sweet potatoes, but he wouldn’t budge. I remember Hisscock tearing up as he explained his wife had been very sick. All she wanted was to see Pepe saved.
After the story ran, a Humane Society trapper tried unsuccessfully to catch Pepe, who was technically on Transalta property. So I called the company certain they’d laugh at my request for help. Instead, I reached the plant’s then commercial manager, Peter Smith -- a well-known animal welfare activist in Sarnia. A few more calls were made and within hours, Pepe had been caught and released to freedom.
"I'm giddish -- I feel like I just got my first tricycle,” Hisscock said, after crossing the border to personally say thanks.
The quirky story turned into great lesson about working with our neighbours, which happened again during the float down gone awry -- from the flood of gratitude about the kindness of our emergency workers, to the Marysville man’s fundraising drive to help cover Sarnia’s costs.
That rescue made me think of my American friend Richard, who passed away two years ago. His obituary in the Port Huron Times Herald read: “Gone fishin’... won’t be back this time.”
He was right. Life is short. Save an animal, assist a neighbour, and let’s just help each other get home.