Another skunk thread

[R Clark]

OK, so I've read through the suggestions.  Taking the most recent suggestions:

Cooler:  What song do you suggest?  Roberta Flack's "Killing me softly"? 


Stwood:  Simply can't sit outside waiting to find those guys.  They're active at night, so other than sitting out there all night hoping to see them, my only realistic option is a trap.  I'll be working on barriers to digging underneath the edges of the coop.  I have wire cloth as a barrier on three sides.  The largest access hole is on that unprotected fourth side.  Subsidence on that side has made it easier for wildlife to cause mischief. 

Limestone:  Both traps are at entrance holes.  Problem is that the occupied trap is behind a closed gate that I would need to get through to get at the animal.  I may post a pic after I resolve this when I get home today.

chrisntam:  We moved out to the acreage to get away from the 'burbs.  I'd rather deal with a 100 live skunks than the one dumb***t juvenile delinquent down the street who busts out car windows for fun.  I can shoot the skunks.  The law still takes a dim view of forced physical alterations to the juvenile delinquent.

Cletus: True dat. Maybe next time. I don't have my hosebibs "un-winterized" yet.

[Cooler]

Was having some issues out at the chicken coop with an animal burrowing under the coop.  Last Thursday, caught a pocket gopher in one of the live traps I had set.  Quickly dispatched, holes covered, and traps put away.

Yesterday morning, LOML told me that a new hole had appeared and something was under the coop.  This hole was much larger than the ones previous.  Set out two live traps yesterday afternoon, baited with peanut butter.

Don't know why, but in the middle of the night, I woke up thinking about what I'd do if I caught a skunk.  We've had skunks out there before, and we've seen them on the game cam, but we've managed to scare them off.

This morning, I went out and pointed my high-power light down toward the coop, and sure enough, there's a skunk in one of the traps.  Being already dressed for my work day (only 7 more work days until retirement -- stealth gloat!), I decided to let Mr./Ms. Skunk stay in the trap and I'll deal with it when I get home.

Here's the problem:  When I put the traps out, I didn't think about what I'd do if I caught a skunk.  I thought that perhaps I was dealing with a possum since they're more plentiful around our place and they have been hanging around the coop.  The trap which now contains a skunk, is inside the fenced in run, and getting to that trap in a calm manner to cover it with a tarp is going to be difficult, if not nearly impossible.

The skunk is going to get dispatched, in any case.  I'm just trying to do this without a scent release.  I can get a clear shot, but there's still a strong likelihood of a scent release; at least I won't get sprayed. 

I'll have to bury the carcass afterward.

Willing to listen to ideas.

Is it even legal to assassinate a skunk? I would hate to retire and then do "20 to life" for murder.   Where I live you would need a wild life permit of some sort to do so. 

In any case I would google how to humanely repatriate the skunk to another location.  Or I would call a professional to do the deed.

[CLETUS]

In any case I would google how to humanely repatriate the skunk to another location.

That is illegal in most places.


In sane parts of the country... "• Coyote, raccoon, woodchuck, and skunk may be taken year round if they are doing or about to do damage on private land"

[R Clark]

Depredation by the landowner of most non-game, non-protected wildlife that is causing damage is legal here.  Burrowing under our chicken coop qualifies.  State DNR's brochure also states that an estimated 60% of the skunks in the state are rabies carriers.

Relocation to a place at least ten miles away and euthanasia are both approved.

Can't keep the fur unless one has a furbearer's hunting/trapping permit.

Relocation requires permission of the land owner if relocating to private land, and approval by DNR if relocating to public land.  Not going to go through that drill.

Approved euthanasia methods in the state include shooting, kill traps, lethal gases, and drowning.  I saw one response on another forum that they landowner sets up his traps with tarps in place and aluminum ducting.  When he gets one in the trap, he bring a vehicle up and pipes the exhaust gas into the covered trap.

[Admiral]

The CO2 thing reminded me of dispatching groundhogs on my FIL's farm with toxic smoke bombs we got at the Agway Coop. I'd chase them into their holes then light one up. Toss one in there and cover the hole with a tarp, wait an hour or so, and Bob's your uncle, then extract dead skunk....

[Stwood_]

WxMan, I don't sit out there waiting on them. I just carry about every time I head to the critter/feed shed.

[Cooler]

Depredation by the landowner of most non-game, non-protected wildlife that is causing damage is legal here.  Burrowing under our chicken coop qualifies.  State DNR's brochure also states that an estimated 60% of the skunks in the state are rabies carriers.

Relocation to a place at least ten miles away and euthanasia are both approved.

Can't keep the fur unless one has a furbearer's hunting/trapping permit.

Relocation requires permission of the land owner if relocating to private land, and approval by DNR if relocating to public land.  Not going to go through that drill.

Approved euthanasia methods in the state include shooting, kill traps, lethal gases, and drowning.  I saw one response on another forum that they landowner sets up his traps with tarps in place and aluminum ducting.  When he gets one in the trap, he bring a vehicle up and pipes the exhaust gas into the covered trap.

The car thing won't work anymore--at least not with a modern car.  The exhaust on a modern car is so clean all you will get is a headache.  However if you have a 1966 GTO it would work.  Or an old  gas powered tractor.  

Carbon monoxide poisoning is supposed to be painless.  I like that idea if you can find an old clunker to generate the CO2.

Or get a tank of argon gas and use that.  It is not free, but it is supposed to be faster.  The below applies to argon gas, which is available at your local welding supply shop.


According to the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, in humans, "breathing an oxygen deficient atmosphere can have serious and immediate effects, including unconsciousness after only one or two breaths. The exposed person has no warning and cannot sense that the oxygen level is too low." In the US, at least 80 people died due to accidental nitrogen asphyxiation between 1992 and 2002.[3] Hazards with inert gases and the risks of asphyxiation are well established.[
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inert_gas_asphyxiation

[R Clark]

Resolution:  Shot the skunk with my old Marlin Model 60 from about 50 feet.  He/she released some scent, but certainly not as bad as it could have been.  Buried over in the corner of the field, just like the law says.

The coop is a bit fragrant, but the hens don't care.

As for gassing, I might rig something up that I can use from the exhaust on my twin-cylinder ZT mower, or from the ATV.  That could be useful for the groundhogs, too.

Cooler: If I had a '66 GTO, I'd be cruising town, to heck with the skunks.  
   The old '65 Ford with the 352 that I drove through college would have sufficed, too.  That thing was a beast.

[Bob10]

If you are calm as you walk up to the skunk and let them see you as you approach they tend not to spray.  This method works well but you have to keep your eye on the skunk if the tail goes up slow down possibly back up slowly.  Any fast action and you are in for a problem

[oakey]

I trap a skunk now and again slowly walking up to them using a tarp or sheet so as not to be seen works well and I have trapped them for my SIL were noise is not an option and this works
My live. Trap is closed buy two rings that fall down as the gate closes
I fasten a rope to the trap so I can invert it and the gate opens and a trapped animal can escape
I let them go into the woods behind my house on there own power once they are far enough away bang
I find spine shots to be the best