Thanks for the input, folks! I think I will construct a little feeding platform for kitty -- sounds like the easiest solution. As for trapping them, we are sort of out in the boonies here. I have seen a number of possums (though this is the first skunk!) so I think trapping would not be terribly productive -- I think there is more where that one came from, if you know what I mean. Better to remove access to the food, then hopefully they will just go somewhere else. (And tomorrow I will take kitty in to get a rabies shot!) Thanks, Ann