SKUNK

[keegs]

I had a guy working for me last summer at the Maine house. He said he regularly fed his cats outdoors on the porch and that a skunk started coming around to eat the cat food leftovers. He told me he thought he could shoot and kill the skunk before it would spray so he got out a .22 and took a shot at it while it was face down in the cat bowl...on the porch. He said he killed it but not before it sprayed the house.

I can only imagine what a calamity that was.

 

[Freds]

My BIL recently sent a pic to me of a skunk he had shot. I'm sure he used his shotgun and he said the whole house stunk, but skunk smell can permeate your nostrils pretty good and stay with you for days. Anyway, the thing had become trapped right outside his house in two chipmunk traps he had set up. The skunk had reached through the spokes of one of those tricycle planters and gotten both front paws caught, one in each trap. Pretty funny when you think about it, lol.

 

[Rickstir]

There are lots of skunks. They are not endangered. I drive 50 miles to work and see hundreds killed every year, yet they still abound. Kill them, shoot shovel and shutup if necessary. But taking them somewhere else is not fair to where you drop them off. Just be done with it.

 

[CharlieTR]

Had a skunk spray my barn cat on my front porch a couple of years ago.
It was bad in the house for about two to three weeks. Ran that cat off for a long time too. Seemed like after being in the house for 30 minutes, nose burned, but could not smell anything any more.

After all that cleared up I saw a show on PBX that was all about skunks.
This skunk trapper kept sending his skunks to a scientist, and he chemically analysed the spray. He said he only way to chemically break down that skunk spray is to mix 3% hydrogen paroxcide with water, and a cap full of liquid laundry soap. He showed mixing in a 5 gallon bucket.

He did say stuff like tomato juice just cover up the smell and don't break down the chem.

 

[keegs]

Had a yellow jacket nest in the lawn a while back. I have a serious reaction to bee stings so I kept my distance. I seem to recall it was when the weather started turning cooler that something dug up the nest during the night.....bits of the nest were scattered around the hole. Can't be sure but I think it was a skunk that dug up the nest.

 

[MikeD74T]

Found several yellowjacket nests dug up in my lawn last weekend. I prefer skunks to yellowjackets. Other than once nearly stepping on one when leaving for work on midnight shift they've never caused me any trouble. That one didn't spray, just startled me. Since then I turn on the porch light for a mpoment before leaving in the dark. MikeD74T

 

[keegs]

Found several yellowjacket nests dug up in my lawn last weekend. I prefer skunks to yellowjackets. Other than once nearly stepping on one when leaving for work on midnight shift they've never caused me any trouble. That one didn't spray, just startled me. Since then I turn on the porch light for a mpoment before leaving in the dark. MikeD74T

Had what must have been a 500 lb black bear greet me in the driveway a few years ago on my way to work. :laughing: Had to go back in the house and change my pants.

 

[MikeD74T]

From NH Fish & Game newsletter: things that go bump in the night

NORTH CONWAY MAN INJURED BY DUMPSTER-DIVING BEAR

NORTH CONWAY, N.H. -- A man had a physical encounter with a black bear while emptying his garbage at his apartment complex in North Conway, N.H., on Sunday, August 22, 2010. Jeff Allard, a resident of Cathedral Crossing Apartments in North Conway, was throwing garbage into a dumpster when the bear scratched his shoulder and knocked him to the ground as it bounded out of the dumpster through a side access door.

Allard had gotten home from work after dark and proceeded to take his household trash out to the apartment complex's dumpster, which is equipped with a bear-proof steel top. As Allard approached the dumpster, he noticed that the side door was open, but because of the darkness, he did not notice a bear rummaging around inside it. He threw his garbage bag into the dumpster, which startled the bear. The surprised bruin immediately reached its paw out to grab the side of the dumpster to pull itself out. In the process, the bear痴 paw scratched Allard's shoulder, causing him to fall backwards to the ground. Allard immediately got to his feet, backed away and watched the bear climb out of the dumpster and run off into the woods.

Allard sustained three cuts to his right shoulder that measured approximately 5 inches in length, requiring 16 stitches. He recounted that he was immediately frightened by the bear, but quickly realized that the animal was as startled by the incident as he was. He did not feel that the bear was acting aggressively, but rather was trying to escape as quickly as possible.

Allard said that residents of the apartment complex occasionally see bears at the facility's dumpster, but not on a routine basis. This bear had been at the dumpster several nights before, and had shown up periodically throughout the summer. As a result of bears getting into garbage in years past, the facility had installed bear-proof dumpsters with locking metal tops and side doors. The side door had been kept shut with a clip, but the clip had since broken. As a result, the bear was able to open the side door, climb in and access the garbage.

I still prefer skunks. MikeD74T

 

[keegs]

yeah..I'll take stinky over a black bear any time...:laughing:

 

[4720 OWNER]

Just to add a little more flavor to the post, was told by an old timer (only slightly older than me, but much wiser) that some bleach down a woodchuck den would drive it off. Applied the same principle to a skunk den and the results were the same. No trapping or killing or sending it to someone else, just faded back into land not occupied by people.

On the side, there used to be a place in wisconsin that would make you a skunk hat if you sent them 3 pelts and some $.