Skunk Advice

[BigBlue1]

Beginning of last summer I noticed a skunk waddling across the back part of the property, heading towards this old shed where I know there has been a critter hole dug under it for a while. Tried to shoot it but every time I saw it I couldn't get to the rifle fast enough and it disappeared. Thought maybe there might be a second one too. Decided to get a live trap. Info online said to use marshmallows instead of cat food or tuna because skunks like them but cats don't (lots of farm cats roam the area). First night out the trap caught a fox! Very surprised by that. Let him go because I have nothing against fox. Caught the first skunk a night or two later. Put the trap back out just in case of a second one. Caught another. We also have a couple 'coons around so I figured I'd leave the trap out for awhile. Well, caught another skunk. And another. And another. By the end of the summer I think I was on the 10th one. Ugh. Had no idea there were that many around. Did catch a couple 'coons and a cat or two along the way. 'Coons went to sleep, cats were sent along their way. 'Coons can really do some damage to the trap. I've had to repair the wire on that live trap so many times from the 'coons and lots of bullet damage that I finally just patched it with some hardware cloth in a couple spots. Still works though. Will be put back out next spring to see what critters await. Amazing how those marshmallows work.

Rob

 

[2LaneCruzer]

When I was about fifteen years old, we lived in a very rural area, just off a dirt road. There was a "circle" drive around our house...dirt also. My brother and I were out messing around in the yard, and he yelled at me..."What's That?" he said. I looked, and coming down the road, loping along, was an animal that the only thing I could think of was an anteater. I ran into the house, grabbed my rifle and ran back outside. By that time, he had entered the circle drive and was heading toward the house...loping along, head bobbing up and down. I shot the bugger; he dropped and we approached him. It turned out to be a skunk with a pint mayonnaise jar stuck on his head. It was an odd site for sure.

 

[forgeblast]

My dogs birthday, as I was driving down our road I swerved to miss a skunk. Though thats strange its daylight out. Got home let the dog out and smelled that she was nuked. I finished eating since I knew I was in for a long night. Well I go out to wash her, and my wife and daughter come home. My daughter is banging on the window (thought it was to let me know she was home) and I looked up and shes yelling SKUNK!, thing came back and almost sprayed me. The dog went in close and got sprayed two more times. I ran the other way. Went into the house got the .22 and no more skunk. It was a close one. Had to use that mix, and took her to the groomer who cleaned her and trimmed her but it took another 3 months to get her skunk free. Did I mention she ran into the house when I went to get the .22 and ran under the table and wouldnt get back outside....it was a great day lol

 

[MossRoad]

I think that is correct, for the most part. I did read of one case where some spelunkers were exploring a cave that was full of bats; they later came down with rabies. Turns out the air in the cave was thick with bat urine which was able to carry enough of the virus to infect them. Rare, for sure, but not impossible.

I'd be surprised if they got it though the air. More likely, they got urine, feces, saliva, etc... in their mouth, tear ducts or open cuts, or sucked in actual droplets. Either way, if they got rabies, they died.

 

[k0ua]

Beginning of last summer I noticed a skunk waddling across the back part of the property, heading towards this old shed where I know there has been a critter hole dug under it for a while. Tried to shoot it but every time I saw it I couldn't get to the rifle fast enough and it disappeared. Thought maybe there might be a second one too. Decided to get a live trap. Info online said to use marshmallows instead of cat food or tuna because skunks like them but cats don't (lots of farm cats roam the area). First night out the trap caught a fox! Very surprised by that. Let him go because I have nothing against fox. Caught the first skunk a night or two later. Put the trap back out just in case of a second one. Caught another. We also have a couple 'coons around so I figured I'd leave the trap out for awhile. Well, caught another skunk. And another. And another. By the end of the summer I think I was on the 10th one. Ugh. Had no idea there were that many around. Did catch a couple 'coons and a cat or two along the way. 'Coons went to sleep, cats were sent along their way. 'Coons can really do some damage to the trap. I've had to repair the wire on that live trap so many times from the 'coons and lots of bullet damage that I finally just patched it with some hardware cloth in a couple spots. Still works though. Will be put back out next spring to see what critters await. Amazing how those marshmallows work.

Rob

Good to know about the marshmallows. I didn't know that one.

 

[KYErik]

I second the marshmallow idea- I've had good luck trapping pest raccoons with the miniature size marshmallows. I make a little trail of them leading into the trap and then place another 5-6 inside the trap.

 

[PJSprog]

The peroxide/baking soda/dish soap stuff worked best for us. Wife used to have an older Sheltie that got herself sprayed twice in as many weeks. She tried everything, and eventually found the peroxide mix. We could still smell it a bit for a long time if we got our noses down into her fur, but other than that, it worked very well.

Another thing to consider if your dog gets a direct to the face spray (as hers did), is to get the dog's teeth cleaned. Her Sheltie eventually lost all her teeth to gum disease, and her hearing to the same infection. Vet told us it's fairly common after a skunk spray in the face. The oil in that spray stays put on the teeth, and between the bacteria it brings and the bacteria it attracts, infections can sometimes even be fatal.

 

[PJSprog]

We'd remarked recently that we haven't seen any skunks around our place over the last couple of years. Before that, we were killing probably a dozen a year.

 

[jbrumberg]

We use the peroxide/baking soda/dish soap mix as well.

Skunks should be making their presence known around here soon :wink: We have not seen many the past few years around here either. Mange/distemper/rabies decimated the skunk population here.

PJS- Thanks for the face spray advise. Sorry about the learning experience.

 

[ning]

From https://wildlife.unl.edu/pdfs/removing-skunk-odor.pdf

This works wonders.
Don't expect the dog to be odor-free after, but it's definitely tolerable.
Our last skunking, the dog ran up to us and rolled around on the front porch before we got her to GTFO, so even after cleaning the dog we had 2 weeks of skunk right in front of the house!