Last Friday I was in the garage and one of my nieghbors came over and told me i had skunks underneath my tool shed. They sprayed his truck the night before 1 adult and 3 babies. So i had an animal removal guy come today and set traps, he said the state wants him to put skunks to sleep as 3 out of 5 carry rabies.


I am in my backyard almost everyday and have not seen one, but have smeeld them so tomorrow morning i guess if the skunks like the marshmellows we will have 2 full cages.

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Stan

Stan,
When I read your post I had to look at your location to see if you liveed in my neighborhood! We have the same situation here, mom and 3 little ones making the rounds through the neighborhood. They seem to appear just before dark and waddle around through the yards. No harm done at this point that I'm aware of. They sure are fun to watch! We're used to the squirrels, rabbits, and even the occasional deer, but these guys must have moved in from somewhere.

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Jeff
S&WCA #2132

They like dry cat food too. Just caught one last week. Was trying for neighbors cat.

About 11 years ago a skunk found it's way under my house and for some reason it let loose with the spray. Inside the house it made my eyes water it was so strong and I thought we would have to burn the place down to get rid of the smell!

I called an exterminator and he caught the skunk in a trap and sprayed some kind of chemical under the house and inside and within an hour the smell was entirely gone.

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Vote ALL incumbents out.

Checked the traps this morning, no skunks yet. I am just surprised my beagle hasn't found them, my neighbor was sprayed by them last week and th eothr next door neighbor smelled them on Friday.

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Stan

If that's the control shelters trap let them remove the skunk rather that you. Years ago a neighbor used one of those traps and got nailed as he tried to remove it. That guy stunk for days.

Old story-We were out driving around after dark with a keg in the back of the truck. Don't worry we didn't have guns but we did have bows. One of us saw a skunk in the field and suggested that one of the drunker ones shoot it with his bow. Well the guy shot it not with a field point but with an expensive broadhead. Then he decided he wanted the arrow back. Well he went to get it and when he pulled it out he apparantly snagged the musk gland and got it all over him. Talk about a miserable ride back to the camp
For all you smart asses out there-this was back in college and NOT last week

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Forum consigliere

Use a Havahart trap and sardines. Once the skunk is caught, cover the trap with a sheet which will calm him down and then you can move the trap to your pickup and take him to animal control. Around here they have to put them down due to the rabies problem.

41

Why not put them down, whenever they're caught?

Is there a useful purpose that skunks fill in the food chain?

Not to be a smart *****, but who would be dumb enough to walk close enough to the trap to cover it with a sheet .................. that's sure as hell gonna get you sprayed!!!!!!!!

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Laus Deo! <><

After the exterminator caught the skunk in the trap, I called Animal control. When the Animal Control officer came she had a long, thin pole with a hypo at the end. She carefully stuck the pole into the trap and injected the skunk. It didn't flinch or anything as she injected it. In a few seconds it was dead. She said they never let the skunks go free because they are a carrier of rabies.

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Vote ALL incumbents out.

There are several skunks in my neighborhood. They tend to come out in the evening when I am sitting outside reading. I have had them walk past my feet, under my legs, and under my chair. I don't think they see very well. The baby ones are as cute as can be. I think they are used to me and I can walk within a few feet, to go into the house. If I get sprayed I'll let you all know in three or four days when my wife lets me back in the house.

This little critter was nosing around during the day at the end of winter last year. I shot with Ruger 10/22 22 mag and a lucky hit severed the spine and no spray. It snowed hard that night so he was in snow bank for a week until my wife retrieved and took to burn pile.

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SWCA 1932 SWHF 135

Animal Control in my city won't touch them. I was trying to trap a whistle pig one time, and the AC guys told me if I caught a skunk, I'm on my own. We don't have a lot of them, but I smell them a few times a year.

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Tom

My dad has them over at his house eating the bird seed. I was going to bring my .22 rifle over to get them, but he likes them. He also gets possums, foxes and last week spotted a coyote and a doe near his house. Strange thing is he lives only a few miles from Detroit in a fairly populated area. I've warned him about walking around and tracking in possum and skunk scat on his shoes.

Im with ya on this one......... Just asking for trouble!

The good Havahart traps have a solid metal top and metal doors at both ends. Some of the cheap ones now are screen wire. In this case you would need a shield to hide behind.

Skunks carry rabies and can do a number on your yard. Also you do not want to relocate them and cause a problem for someone else. I have moved many this way and have never been sprayed.

In Fairfax County, the animal control will come and get the skunk but you have to go to their facility and get your trap back. Just be sure to mark your trap on the underside so you get the your trap back and not some beat up piece of junk.


41

My Lab got nailed point blank in the face about a month ago. He for sure had a W T F look on his face. The spray is oil. The wife and I mixed up a mixture of hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and liquid soap. Scrubbed him real good and it took the smell away.

Never did see the skunk.

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Smith & Wesson beat four aces

I have found the best thing to shoot them with and have the least chance of a death spray is a .410 with #6 shot. I've killed a couple of dozen off my property and you have about a 50/50 chance of a death spray using a .22. If you use a shotgun bigger than a .410 you risk busting the gland/stink bag. I've had about a 90% success rate killing them with a .410.

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- Change it back -

Sorry, I thought this was a thread about Washington.

I used a large blanket for a shield. If they don`t see your feet moving, they won`t spray. Walked up slowly to the cage, slowly dropped blanket over it, left him alone for 1/2 hour, picked up the trap and put it in the pickup. When released he didn`t even lift his tail to spray. Guess he was glad to be out of the cage.

The best way to get rid of skunks is to have an old woodsman living next door. When I lived in Lackawanna N.Y my neighbor was a great guy. 77 yrs. old and could work me (26 at the time) into the ground. He could point at whatever was growing and tell you what it was edible or not. He raised bees at his country property and the honey was awesome.
Anyway, we lived in the city which is a suburb of Buffalo and had been having a problem with skunks for most of the summer. Well all of a sudden it stopped. I mentioned it to him and he said that he had set a few leghold traps in his huge 10x10 back yard.
When I asked what happened when he caught one he replied he'd throw an old aluminum wash tub over them and when they started to dig out and the head peeked out he'd smash it with a shovel. Arcaic yes but also effective. These days it seems we overthink simple tasks no matter what they are. I still chuckle thinking about it.

I caught one in my Havahart last night. A huge sucker. This morning I sat on a stump about 30 yards away and shot him with the suppressed .22. No smell until I took him outta the trap. Oh man, it was so foul. The smell stuck to my clothes.

I finally ended up cover it with about 1/2 gallon of diesel and torched it. Buried it about an hour ago. No more smell.

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Smith & Wesson beat four aces

my thought is any good shooter can take them with a head shotat 15 yards and get no spray, if you arn't a good shot, use a 12 gauge because when you get sprayed at least you will feel a little better about not being able to miss

Don`t know if it`s true or not--but a head shot will cause a muscle spasm that will cause a spray. If shot thru the lungs, they won`t spray. Supposedly they need air in the lungs to spray. Don`t know, just heard that from an old trapper.