Yes, You Can Move A Live SKUNK!! (How To,,)

[CADplans]

I have had possums stealing eggs,, so, I have been trapping them.

Today, I had a skunk in the trap.

I went and got two old rags out of the shop.
I tossed one on the trap, it did not cover completely, but the skunk "hid" under the covered part.
Then, I simply walked up to the trap, and set the larger rag over the entire trap.

I tied the rags on to the trap.

I read that you should carry the cover so that the skunk can not see your feet move.

After the covered trap was tied, I loaded the trap on my cart, and drove about 1/4 mile into the woods.

There was never any smell.

So, how do you deal with a skunk in a trap??

 

[NorTracNY]

I watched my grandfather do it. He just got a very long pole with a hook or something at the end. He carried it away with the skunk doing the best it could to spray him. I think your approach may have worked better, but I certainly would have been concerned about the approach. Glad it worked.

 

[CalG]

Very tidy!

1/4 mile? The skunk needs about 10 minutes to saunter on back.
You could have just opened the door of the trap right there.

Here in VT, It is unlawful to move a wild animal off your own property. That is, one is not permitted to pass a nuisance along to someone else. Not even to the State via State property.
So, that means you really can not "relocate" anything like a skunk, 'possum, 'coon, etc.
You can kill them though. Sort of drastic in many cases. needed in others.

 

[CADplans]

Very tidy!

1/4 mile? The skunk needs about 10 minutes to saunter on back.
You could have just opened the door of the trap right there.

Here in VT, It is unlawful to move a wild animal off your own property. That is, one is not permitted to pass a nuisance along to someone else. Not even to the State via State property.
So, that means you really can not "relocate" anything like a skunk, 'possum, 'coon, etc.
You can kill them though. Sort of drastic in many cases. needed in others.

Yea, the law against moving was a REAL concern when some beavers built a dam on a Virginia Tech stream,,
The wardens had to kill the beavers,, EVERYONE was upset,,, beavers are so cute!!

It was a big article in the news,,,
My trapped animals are dealt with,, on my land.

 

[nybirdman]

You didn't tell us "how you"released it.I trap a number of skunks/possums/coons every year; I make sure they never come back.Electric fence around my pens save a lot of critter lives.

 

[CADplans]

You didn't tell us "how you"released it.

I have been using this trap opener this year,,,

Amazing accuracy,,

 

[RobS]

Caught one many years back when we lived in a subdivision. I called the humane society and the guy did just as the OP did. He covered the whole trap with a blanket and picket it up. Took it away in his truck and returned my empty trap about a 1/2 hour later. No smell at all!

 

[CalG]

I have been using this trap opener this year,,,

Amazing accuracy,,

That would let the smell out before the door hit the ground! ;-)

 

[Rock Crawler]

Caught one many years back when we lived in a subdivision. I called the humane society and the guy did just as the OP did. He covered the whole trap with a blanket and picket it up. Took it away in his truck and returned my empty trap about a 1/2 hour later. No smell at all!

Yep, that is how I do it. Use an old sheet, walk up with the sheet in front of me so he does not see my body and just lay it over the box trap. Carry it to the Rhino and set it in the bed with the sheet completely covering it and drive out into the woods a good ways, open the box trap with the sheet still on and get back away from the back side and wait for him to venture out. They always scurry away as soon as they get out and realize that they are free. I drive them a mile or so out, and I have not had them come back to the house. I also have never had then spray the sheet, even during transport.

 

[Bird]

It was just about 50 years ago when I borrowed a trap from the city and set it to catch a skunk. But their trap had a solid top, bottom, and sides; just the 2 ends could be seen into and through. So when I caught a skunk, I called the city and the guy came, walked up to the side of the trap where he couldn't be seen, picked it up, and set it into a slightly larger metal box and closed the lid. There was a short pipe coming up from the top of that bigger box with a screw on cap on it. He opened that, poured in chloroform, and screwed the lid back on. He said the skunk would be dead before he got back to the office to dispose of it.

 

[Ford850]

I also used my tractor to transport, but in the FEL. Drove about 300 yards, then I set the trap just off the FEL. I used a large clothespin style woodworkers clamp, clipped to the top of the sheet. Tied one end of a cord to the clamp, and looped the other end on the FEL chain hook. I hopped back on the tractor and drove backwards until the 20' cord tightened and pulled the sheet off the trap. Then I used my Ruger 77/22 to dispatch from a safe distance.

 

[oosik]

Hmmm - surprised somebody didn't get sprayed in that "moving" story. Around here, I don't trap skunks - 12 gauge eliminator.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I catch them in my traps from time to time...

I cover the trap and then move it where ever I want. Then I open the door and walk away, once they are a ways away, I shoot them...

You moved yours a quarter mile away? Was it back at your place when you got home?? ha ha ha

It WILL be back!

SR

 

[PJSprog]

I have been using this trap opener this year,,,

Amazing accuracy,,

Oh, my :yes: ... a 6" S&W 617 10-shot ... one of my grail guns. Very nice.

We rarely set traps close enough to the house that any odoriferous offender cannot be terminated before removal. Had one spray up the back side of the barn once; pretty much ended the work out there for the day.

 

[RobS]

Hmmm - surprised somebody didn't get sprayed in that "moving" story. Around here, I don't trap skunks - 12 gauge eliminator.

Was on a fishing trip years ago at a commercial fishing camp. Skunk under the cleaning house. Campmaster took care of the skunk with his shotgun. Couldn't go near the cleaning house for days due to the smell...

 

[CADplans]

A month or so ago, I caught a skunk in a Duke's Trap,,,

Amazon.com: Duke DP Coon Trap: DUKE PECAN: Sports & Outdoors

I had to dispatch that skunk where it was trapped,,, near the chicken coop.
The smell took two weeks to go away,,

I now use a different method to anchor the trap, it is now easier to "move"

 

[drssg]

I'm not as kind-hearted as the OP. I used a very similar approach, but I threw the whole thing into the shallow end of the pond. It's just deep enough to cover the trap, then I shot it under water. That contains the smell pretty well.

It would be simpler just to let it drown, but I prefer to end its suffering more quickly.

 

[QRTRHRS]

Many years ago my father and his buddy used to go around to the "country" dumps and catch them by blinding them with lights and tossing them in a burlap bag. From what I recall, they never sprayed while in the bag. I can remember riding along and the car never got stunk up. They would then somehow remove them from the bag and dope them up with ether and cut the scent glands off. They would then sell them to some pet shop. Somewhere I have a photo of me with my pet skunk when I was five years old.

 

[Bird]

Aah, yes. When I was a kid of 11 or 12, I wanted a pet skunk. Someone had found a nest of baby skunks and gave me one that was so new it didn't have it's eyes open yet. At the time, we had a mother cat in the barn with a new litter. So I took my little skunk and let him nurse that cat. The first day, I stayed with them to let him nurse and then took him away. But the second day, that cat licked him to clean him, and seemed to adopt him, so I left him with her and her kittens. The next day everything was fine and I thought I had it made. And the third day, I found just a little skunk fur and toenails; she had eaten him.

 

[PILOON]

My grandfather would cover the trap and take it to the pond and submerge trap and skunk.
Next day he'd bury the drowned skunk.