Skunk drives family from house

HIGHLAND PARK, Ill., May 11 (UPI) -- A family forced out of its suburban Chicago home by a skunk more than a year ago "desperately" wants to go back home.

Vicki and Mark Royal and their four children are still unsure when they can return to their house in Highland Park, the Chicago Tribune reported. Appliances and carpeting were thrown out and drywall removed.

The couple are now involved in a major dispute with their insurance company.

"We've tried to keep our sense of humor," Vicki Royal said. "We desperately, desperately want to go home."

The Royals first smelled skunk when they returned from a family outing in April 2007. They at first assumed the smell was the result of a dog-skunk faceoff and did not worry about it.

But the smell kept getting worse, and excavators eventually discovered the skunk had created a network of tunnels and some of its spray apparently had gotten into the house's ventilating system.

When the skunk was unearthed, it was actually "very, very cute," Vicki Royal said.