Dear Heloise: Let’s please talk about how to cleanse animals that get skunked. I have seen people’s remedies for removing skunk odors from their animals. At best, most are iffy and take a long time to remove the smell. Well, I have a proven method. Living in a remote area of Montana, I found this out from a Canadian officer whose dog tracked bears:

Wash your animal using a commercial douche and a little dish detergent. It sounds funky, but it works remarkably well. The smell is gone. — Norman G., Cascade, Montana

Norman, thank you for your hint. There are also bottled skunk odor neutralizers on the market that are sold online and in pet stores as well as some grocery stores.

My own dog gets “skunked” about once a month (he’ll never learn), and I spray him with a spray that seems to work well until the next time he gets “skunked”! — Heloise

OPENING SAFETY SEALS

Dear Heloise: To easily open the freshness/safety seal on jars of peanut butter, vitamins, medicine containers, hand creams, etc., lift up the hard-to-grasp small tabs around the edge of the seal. Then take needle-nose pliers and pull up slowly on the tabs. The seal will open easily and cleanly.

I enjoy reading your column and everyone’s hints. — Hannelore R., in Omaha, Nebraska

Hannelore, thank you for your hint. You mentioned one of my favorite tools: needle-nose pliers. I have a pair in my kitchen and another pair in my office. It’s surprising how many times I’ve used both pairs.

When a friend buys a new home, I love to give them a pair of needle-nose pliers, a tape measure, and a level. These three tools will get a lot of use in just about any home. — Heloise

ADIOS, ANTS!

Dear Heloise: I love your column and have been following you and your mom for years in the Buffalo News.

For those plagued by ants that invade their hummingbird feeders, use an ant trap and put vinegar in it. The ants will approach it but won’t cross into the feeder. After the ants learn about it, you could use half parts vinegar and water. Be careful to only fill the trap so that the wind will not tilt it to where the contents will spill out. About halfway is what I do.

I first tried this when I had tried every other method: vaseline, motor oil(!?), etc. My ants did not seem to mind, and water in the trap deterred them not a bit. I had the most altruistic ants in Western New York. They would form a little bridge for their mates to climb over.

I wish I could have filmed the first encounter with the vinegar in the trap. The line of ants would come down the wire, then go back up assembly-line style. The first one to smell the vinegar approached it and stopped a few times. By this time, the line was backing up behind him. The first ant then decided to go back up, and a second one approached the trap. The same thing happened, and the second ant went back up.

Then it looked like two ants were approaching the top of the line, like the first ant was coming back with the foreman. They both sniffed, conferred, and sniffed again. Then that was that. It only took this much time, and there were no more ants. Vinegar strikes again!

This does nothing against the bees, but the birds don’t seem as bothered by them. — Eloise G., in New York

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