Black trash moved

[JimRB]

I was raking up a mess of gravel in the lot I keep cleared across the street Tuesday night. Then I went to clean my drainage ditch leading to the pipe under the driveway. I see a piece of black trash about 75 feet away along the ditch on the other side of the driveway. One of the young dogs runs up to the fence and the trash runs across the street with a fluffy black tail. I sniffed but I did not smell skunk. This morning I guess some skunks had a convention/congress as I smelled them. Beware of black trash, more to be feared than the coyotes.

Sort of off topic but then again they are known to harbor rabies so I guess it could be safety related.

 

[MHarryE]

Safety for my Kubota RTV. Apparently I drove by a skunk hiding in the grass the other day because when I got home the RTV really reeked. My wife wouldn't let me park it in the garage. Today I pressure washed everything but it still stinks bad. My cousin has a whole herd of cats to control rodents around his barn and hay. He supplements their raw rodent diet with cat food. One day we were talking and I noticed 7 skunks at the cat food. I got to carrying a handgun with me in my RTV. My dad tells me to shoot them in the spine and they can't sray. Yeah, right, with my 9 mm I am lucky to hit the skunk let alone a specific part.

 

[plowindeeper]

Was bushhoging yesterday got to the end of field and seen one run into the hedgerow at end. Turned around and **** I ran over one 15 min later the 5 buzzards had already cleaned it all up but the smell.

 

[pmhowe]

Over the years, I have interacted with many skunks, primarily through catching them when I was trying to catch raccoons that were destroying my gardens and bird feeders. Skunks are known to be very beneficial to farmers and when I caught one in a live trap, I always fed it breakfast before releasing it. Never once did the skunk try to spray.

Skunks are known to be a vector for rabies, as are bats, raccoons, foxes, and feral cats. A skunk that shows aggressive behavior or no fear of human beings should be avoided.

There is a fascinating pamphlet on skunks that was released by the USDA years ago. The website is Economic Value of North American Skunks, Page: Title Page | UNT Digital Library. Well worth a read. Don't use their recommended treatment to remove skunk spray. It won't work.