It was an undignified predicament, even for an animal that defends itself by squirting noxious chemicals from its backside.

A skunk with a plastic McFlurry cup clamped firmly over its head wandered onto Tina Christie's Kemptville, Ont., driveway Thursday morning.

Risking a spraying, Christie coaxed it over and, on her second attempt, carefully popped the cup off the animal's head, filming the entire rescue.

If the skunk was grateful, it didn't say it. Luckily for Christie, it didn't spray it either: the animal left without further incident.

"I knew I might get sprayed big time and my day would be ruined but I went for it!" Christie wrote in a Facebook post.