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Skunk smell clears out child care center


Parents of daycare students had to pick their children up early when a strong skunk odor shut down operations at in the Piper Child Development Center.

By CHRISTINE M. TAMER
Staff Writer

Parents and children pinched their noses to avoid of the stench of skunk as they exited the Piper Child Development Center on Tuesday afternoon.

Baylor University Risk Management department evacuated the center and parents were told to pick up their children as soon as possible.

The center closed because of the skunk's odor, Warren Ricks, director of risk management, said.
"There was no risk per se," Ricks said. "The reason we closed it down today was because of the obnoxious odor."

Two skunks were captured Tuesday night, Dr. Jess Kelly, Manager of the Environmental Health and Safety Services, said in a posting on the Risk Management Web site.

The center will be checked in the morning to see if the smell has "diminished enough" and if more skunks remain.

Many children of Baylor's faculty and staff attend the center which is based on Baylor's mission and provides model programs, teaching and leadership for children ages 2 months to 5 years.

"They (the center) do a wonderful job so we all understand," Jeff Kilgore, executive vice president of the Baylor Alumni Association said. Kilgore picked up his son, Patrick, at the center.
"They called and said, 'We have a skunk in the house,' and I said, 'You got a whole building full of them,'" Kilgore said.

Piper Assistant Director, Tiffany Smart, said the center's director and staff had no comment.
Meghan Becker, Kokernot Residence Hall director, was was "glad" she was called to pick up her daughter.

As they exited the center, Becker and her daughter looked at a cage as it was being brought into the building by Baylor Facility Services.

The cage was large enough to hold a skunk and was baited with a chicken leg.

The maintenance staff would not comment on the cages.

Kilgore said he was thankful the center puts kids' health "first and foremost."

"As a parent when you get a call like this, you want it to be about a skunk," Kilgore said.

Comment: We found a possum in the garbage can outside last week. I brought it in to show all the kids. He didn't smell very nice, but the children all thought he was cute. He was a baby about six inches long. That night I went home and found a bat in my husband's den. We put a wire waste basket over it and shoved a book underneath and carried it out. First we looked at it - he looked like a teddy bear with wings.

I don't know if we would call school for skunk - I'm kind of partial to skunk.