The open window

I was using the computer in the office this evening when I noticed some noise coming from outside. It sounded like a small animal walking around in the grassy area between two apartment buildings. The windows in the back of the apartment are about two inches from the ground, opening to the aforementioned grassy area. The window was open, as it usually is, so I really thought nothing of the sound of an animal. There are squirrels out there all the time. I don't recall seeing too many squirrels out around 11:00 pm, however. I caught something out of the corner of my eye and saw that I really was hearing an animal and that the animal I heard was within an inch of the window. I saw fur and immediately thought of a squirrel's tail, but the fur was too long for that. The color looked at first like it could be an oposum, a creature for which I have a great abhorrence. That thought made me shudder. I looked more closely, however, and really hoped that I was not seeing what I thought I was seeing. An oposum would be preferable to what I saw. The fur was way too long to be an oposum, and I was seeing white fur on a tail. I saw black on the body and a white stripe down the back. I had a skunk directly outside my open window in such a position that if it got scared it would be spraying into the apartment. I wanted to close the window, but didn't want to startle the skunk. Fortunately it walked away and I quickly closed the window and made sure the other windows in the back of the apartment were also closed. I don't ever want to be that close to a skunk again!