It was one of this year’s few good-news local stories: On Aug. 27, the Village of Liverpool Board of Trustees hired Mike Walker, owner of Walker’s Wildlife Solutions of East Syracuse, as animal trapper here.

It’s the first time in 16 years that the village has had an animal trapper to specifically service its property owners. Consistent complaints over the past decade, especially about skunks and woodchucks, finally prompted the trustees to action.

The village is paying Walker a $5,000 annual retainer for which he will remove skunks, opossum and woodchucks at no cost to the resident for his initial call. Walker will advise how to make their property less attractive to wildlife, but if the problem requires a return visit there will be a $25 charge.

To contact the trapper, call 315-857-3856 or email him at [email protected].

Skunk Alley recalled

Polecats have plagued our village for its entire existence. Historian Dorianne Elitharp Gutierrez can point to several accounts of residents’ brave battles with the malodorous weasels deep into the 19th century.

Even as recently as 45 years ago, the critters’ proliferation prompted village kids to call the First Street neighborhood “Skunk Alley.”

Norm Gauthier, who lives in Liverpool, remembers it well.

“In the late 1970s, my little sister, Terri, and I were both Post-Standard carriers and had morning routes along First, Second and Third Streets along with the side streets, Brow Street and Lake Drive,” he wrote in a recent email. “For a couple of years we had one of the worst skunk population explosions I’ve ever seen. Every kid from those streets is sure to remember it. And there were no professional trappers then to back our neighborhood up. You never strolled out of your house casually after dark. You always came out the door slowly, let your eyes adjust to the dark, and gave the area a serious skunk check. My poor sister was terrorized by them on her route. My pal, Andy, and I took to carrying our pellet guns with us and accompanied her up the end of First Street to let her finish her route.” 

Friendly LPD officers

“Those were the days when neighbors would thank a kid with a scoped pellet gun for shooting the pigeons off their roof. Nowadays I’m pretty sure a SWAT team would be involved,” Gauthier continued.

“Back then Officers Mike Burg, Danny Manns, Vinnie Moreno, Geri Neri or Chief Ray Piper would stop and shoot the breeze with you just to check that you weren’t shooting out windows or something stupid. Didn’t worry about the cops back then. Do something stupid and a neighbor would have talked to your Mom or Dad before you got home. Hooo boy! A neighbor on Brow Street, Garth Weller, even had a sign made for his house reading ‘Skunk Alley’ because he couldn’t get rid of the little stinkers. (Too many good pickin’s for the critters behind Nichols.)

“Many a game of hide and seek involving the Merritt, Gauthier, Deriwachter, Mussi, Kurtz Wagner and Brettchneider kids were interrupted when someone yelled ‘Skunk!’

“One skunk was even bold (stupid?) enough to come up the back ramp into our back porch one night. When they met, my sister’s shriek sent him in a different direction. Unfortunately for him, dad was home as was my pellet gun, and the skunk left the neighborhood permanently. Unfortunately for me, I happened to put an insurance round into him while Pop went to get the shovel. Thus I was given the honor of shoveling him up. Did you know that fresh, close, skunk spray is so overpowering that it doesn’t even smell like skunk anymore?

“So, when I read your article about Ben Lees’ woodchucks (Mrs. Lees was my cub scout den-mother for a bit), I immediately flashed back to those good old village days on Skunk Alley.” 

From skunks to bears!

By the way, Norm’s little sister, Terri Barrowcliff, relocated to Colorado where she now finds herself braving the occasional black bear climbing the fence into her backyard. Compared to those furry 400-lb. behemoths with their sharp teeth and claws, skunks must seem a fond memory for Terri…

Halloween block party

At a special meeting on Oct. 8, the village board approved a request from neighborhood residents to close off a block of Birch Street from Third to Fourth street on Saturday, Oct. 31 to celebrate Halloween. Don’t forget to wear one of those scary face masks!

Contact the columnist at [email protected].