Skunk Troubles

[Stkbow]

The post about the white tailed squirrel got me thinking about my skunk problem. I was on the steps of my deck about a month ago with my Lab pup Molly, when I heard some rustling coming my way from under the deck. Since I smelled the rotten begger when I first went out the back door, I knew this could get ugly pretty quick. I bent down to scoop up the pup, and was literally face to face with Mr. Skunk. Lucky for me, the back end had yet to clear the hole in the lattice, so I high tailed it back into the house through the front door. I'll fix the openings around the deck come spring, but that still doesn't evict the bugger from his new digs, which is under my shed. I must have missed filling a hole the ground hogs dug this past summer. Those guys (Ground hogs) are easy to deal with. Have-a-hart trap, and little fruit and BAM you've got a gopher! I'm sure I could catch the skunk but what do I do with it then? I've handle skunks in the past with varying degrees of success. .22 kills them dead but not before they spray. .22 fired at a rapid rate connecting 5-6 times, kills them dead but not before they spray. Went to a 12 gauge with turkey loads, same result....Lots-o-stink. So, who has the recipe for skunk eradication, without the stink?
Stkbow

[Bwana]

The post about the white tailed squirrel got me thinking about my skunk problem. I was on the steps of my deck about a month ago with my Lab pup Molly, when I heard some rustling coming my way from under the deck. Since I smelled the rotten begger when I first went out the back door, I knew this could get ugly pretty quick. I bent down to scoop up the pup, and was literally face to face with Mr. Skunk. Lucky for me, the back end had yet to clear the hole in the lattice, so I high tailed it back into the house through the front door. I'll fix the openings around the deck come spring, but that still doesn't evict the bugger from his new digs, which is under my shed. I must have missed filling a hole the ground hogs dug this past summer. Those guys (Ground hogs) are easy to deal with. Have-a-hart trap, and little fruit and BAM you've got a gopher! I'm sure I could catch the skunk but what do I do with it then? I've handle skunks in the past with varying degrees of success. .22 kills them dead but not before they spray. .22 fired at a rapid rate connecting 5-6 times, kills them dead but not before they spray. Went to a 12 gauge with turkey loads, same result....Lots-o-stink. So, who has the recipe for skunk eradication, without the stink?
Stkbow
I think poison would be illegal so don't try that :whistle: .

[Richie]

I have used a Havahart live trap for skunks with great success. You might want to try that. Good luck!

[Jumpshootin']

sprinkle moth balls or ammonia around under the deck.

[David G Duncan]

Stkbow

The trick to dealing with skunks is to move really slow and to stop all together if they raise their tail. And it doesn't hurt to stay up wind at all times, just in case they don't follow the rules :lol: . They have very poor eye sight and as long as you don't move fast they stay fairly calm. Talking softly to them also seem to help in keeping their tails in down position.

Once they are in the live trap, cover it carefully with an old cloth, so you can carefully place the trap and skunk in a large garbage bag. Then duct tape the opening to the exhaust of a vehicle. You might have to open a small hole at the opposite end of the bag to allow the exhaust to flow.

Good luck.

[Little Roober]

ive heard that you could put peanut butter in the trap with the blue stuff that sprays onto the windshield and the peanut butter will make them thirsty and they will drink the blue stuff. be careful if you use this method cause you could catch anything.to take care of the spray just put a garbage bag or old bed sheet around all but the opening of the trap and it will keep the spray itside.

steve

[FixedBlade]

Get out the yellow pages and call a profesional. Poison him and he will die under your deck next to your house and the smell will come in through the concrete. I own a animal damage control business and see this happen all the time. Forget the poison. Trap him and remove him yourself or make the call. Try shooting the skunk through the lungs, it may not spray.

[Adam Waszak]

Havahart trap then cover it and drop it into a barrel of water and drownd him that will keep the smell down as much as possible.

AW

[Blue Mist]

Actually, human urine smells as bad to a skunk as their spray smells to us. I have had several friends try it and Mr. Skunk moved out in short order. One friend waited till late at night to soak around his deck since they live in the city. He invited his wife to help but she declined. When he came back inside she pointed out he could have filled a can inside the house at any time during the day and not missed their bedtime. Sounds like a joke but try it. What have you got to lose?

Randy

[Richie]

As I stated earlier I used the Havahart with great success. I did use a gunny sack to cover it. Would either put them in the back of the truck or walk on up the road from our place to a field and open the trap and let him out. Shot them with the .20 guage. Never had a mishap and I trapped alot of them. Again, good luck!

[john warren]

have-a heart, then release him elsewhere,or drown him and tan the hide,just be carefull skinning him,,,you know?
i have a motorcycle helmet with a skunk skin on it ,complete with head and tail, really gets looks on the road.i just pretend the chicks can't take their eyes off my rugged good looks.
hey,,,its my delusion,,,don't wreck it for me.

[explodingvarmints]

i live trapped one once and then shot it head on with a 223 ballistic tip. splat done no stinkola. god i hate those things.

[Taxidermist]

I shoot all my trapped skunks in the lungs and 9 out of 10 times no stink.

[IncredibleHook]

Shoot him thru BOTH lungs with a .22 and you shouldnt have any problems.

Cover the cage with a towel when moving him and it shouldnt spray.

MY favorite bait for skunks is little debbie oatmeal cream pies or nilla wafers.

I have trapped over 1000 skunks as a NWCO and only a few have sprayed.

[bobcolenso]

:yeahthat: all of the above. But, if none of those work.....

Get an audio tape of Hillary Clinton, you know, the "I AM SICK AND TIRED...bla bla-bla bla-bla" That little skunk will be out in short order with his tail between his legs.

[Adam Waszak]

That should do it alright :D

AW

[eyemaster]

try shooting them in the head w/.22 . remember one shot one kill, most of the time the brain shuts down before the spray. I have done this w/lots of sucess 8-10 times. the shot must be dead on in the skull for this to work. left or right and you might smell a little something. good luck :p

[rzdrmh]

did i get lucky this year?

on one of my favorite bow stands, i found out opening weekend that the fox hole next to it had turned into a skunk den.

just about dark, and i've got a skunk underneath my stand. and he's been there for a half hour, and is giving no sign of leaving. he was scraping brush and what not into his den.

had 4 arrows in the quiver, leaned over, shot and pinned him to the ground through the chest. gave him 5 minutes, and he's still squirming, so i doubled up another arrow through the chest. that did it. but he didn't spray.

was i just lucky?

[spokyob]

I googled your forum. Thanks for all the advice. My neighborhood has had a few skunks but they were never a real problem. THEN I started feeding backyard birds. That resulted in a banquet for my striped friend. He loves the sunflower seeds that the birds waste. I tried the urine, then I tried pepper flakes. The backyard light had no effect. I bought a Havahart live trap. I had no luck for several nights.. Then I attached a plastic jar cap inside one end of the cage and only opened the door on the far end. I baited it with peanut butter & sunflower seeds. This morning he was in there & not moving at all. I threw the blanket over him and waited for a while. Then I loaded the trap into the pickup & drove far into the country on the far side of town. When I set the trap down behind an abandoned set of buildings, I picked up the blanket & released the catches. Old Stripe was very agitated but he could not lift his tail. I drove away and came back 2 hours later. He was gone. He never did spray... I had a change of clothes & tomato juice with me just in case.:)