Caught a SKUNK

[Chuck52]

I did the blanket thing, using the cover from my almost defunct Brinkman grill. I was lucky because the trap was right at the corner of the house, so I could get real close before throwing the cover over the trap. Close is good for most folks, but I missed about 1/3 even though I was almost on top of the thing. I played in the band in high school. The skunk didn't seem excited...didn't spray anyway. Of course I kept on the side covered by the tarp. I got my pole saw and eased the cover the rest of the way over the trap and then slipped the saw end up under the tarp and snagged the cage. I then dragged the whole mess several hundred feet from the house to a nice shady area. I pulled the cover off and left Ms (I think) skunk there until I get home this afternoon. I'll probably then dispatch the beastie because I don't think I can release it without getting sprayed.

Chuck

 

[DieselPower]

Why shoot it, they are great at grub removal. They love to eat all those nasty little insects we spend so much time trying to get rid of. Besides, their cute and fun to play with. Once they get to know you they are almost like a outside pet. I can hand feed most all of the ones around my house. Might also have something to do with the fact that I feed them to.

 

[JB4310]

yeah there really is an over reaction fear of them, I tried to find the pics of me releasing a skunk but could only find the raccoon, with the skunk it was the exact same scenario, I would bring it to my shop in the cage no blanket or cover, open the gate by the train tracks and just open the cage and the skunk would walk out down the tracks.

The funniest thing was right after we let one go, he walked to the end of the fence and turned right into the next shop/yard, I could here my Canadian sheet rocker neighbors Andre and Marshall screaming in their funny accent. Whoa, where dit dat dare skunk come from.

JB.

 

[Oldtrout]

I agree with Diesel power,skunks will eat their weight in slugs,and actually become quite tame.
Animals were here long before us,so we should learn to live with them.

 

[patrick_g]

I agree with Diesel power,skunks will eat their weight in slugs,and actually become quite tame.
Animals were here long before us,so we should learn to live with them.

In some areas skunks are likely rabies carriers. My aunt (biology teacher) had a pet skunk that was "deodorized. It was about like having a cat.

One time on an outing in the desert to witness a total eclipse of the moon I sat our food box on the ground. A few minutes later a skunk grabbed a full unopened bag of marshmallows and dragged them off across the desert. I chased it down and with a lot of rock throwing convinced it to drop the booty. I returned the bag to the box and pooh poohed my wifes protestations about rabid skunks acting strangely as it was totally coordinated and acted like a normal animal who wanted the bag of marshmallows. Within 3 min the skunk had the bag again and was retreating a lot faster this time. Again with the rock pelting (I pitched baseball in high school) and it dropped the bag. It went about 50 feet to one side of our row of sleeping bags and went into its underground den. I walked to its hole and dropped it in 3-4 marshmallows. I don't mind sharing but I'm not giving away the whole bag to just any bandit.

We don't have many resident skunks on our place but see lots of roadkill so the population is not too low.

Pat

 

[xlr82v2]

The past few years, we've been overrun with skunks... our dogs have been getting sprayed on a regular basis... so Skunk Safari's out around the yard at midnight have been pretty common at my place. I would say that 8 out of 10 of them spray when shot... and that's with them calm, just a spotlight on them, and shot with a .22 or .22WMR. Head shots or body shots, doesn't seem to matter. Most spray, sometimes every once in a while they don't.

I have heard several people also say that you can move them in the trap with a blanket draped over it with no problems, and then just open the door on the trap and they will walk away... but I've not been brave enough to try it. But, I don't doubt them either.

Last year while deer hunting, I got a new hunting buddy... a good sized skunk. He just waddled up to me, and hung around for about 45 minutes. I was feeding him peanuts and raisins from my trail mix... about 5 feet from my shoes. Skunks have no natural enemies, so they are not aggressive unless they're provoked. But, I don't really want to find out how they take to being carried around...

 

[greenmule]

Flame thrower was what you needed.

I do a pretty good job of shooting varmits,thought about getting one of those traps,don't think I ever will now.

 

[CurlyDave]

~50 years ago, when I was in my early teens, my cousins and I used to visit my grandfather in the country frequently.

Come Saturday night the only entertainment was to go down to the local dump with a spotlight and a .22 and shoot rats.

One night I happened to be holding the rifle when out of the bushes at the back of the dump came the biggest, beadiest pair of eyes we had ever seen. We thought we had found the biggest rat in six counties.

My cousin kept jabbing me in the back saying: "shoot, shoot", so I did. When we went down to inspect the carcass, it turned out to be a skunk, and I can tell you that the concept they will not spray while they are dying is just plain not true.

I was too young to drive, so my cousin had taken his family car, and my aunt complained about the skunk stink for a solid month. Now the skunk never sprayed the car, only us. The transfer from our clothes to the seats was what did it.

 

[Unclebuck257]

The rabbies thing is really a big thing around here with skunks. A high percentage of them do have rabbies, according to our Parks and Wildlife people.

Anyway, a skunk can't spray you after he's dead, but what it can do is spray the ground all around it while it's dying, if you decide to shoot it, even if it's only seconds until it dies. Now it's dead as a door nail and you walk up on it after shooting it, into and onto the ground it sprayed like crazy. Your boots, pants legs ( if high grass) and the dog who accompanied you might as well have been sprayed directly because it'll be all over each of them. Been there, done that only once!! Now, I shoot one an extra time to be sure, without kicking a carcass to be sure it's dead and then leave the carcass lay where it fell and let the buzzards have at it.

 

[Chuck52]

I disposed of the skunk with no problems. Had I not trapped it I would have had no problem sharing my land with it. It was probably the same skunk I chased off by yelling at it a while back. On the other hand, it may have been that skunk that was trying to build a den under my front porch slab. Whatever it was moved a lot of dirt before it apparently found a void under the slab. Dug up the wife's flowers doing it. I plugged the hole once and it came back and dug it out again, even though I had shoved big chunks of concrete in there. Whatever it was hasn't come back, so it may he=ave been the skunk.

Chuck