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Skunk
Ditch-Runner
Member Posts: 24,590 ✭✭✭✭
we have had skunks hanging around for several + years no real problem they are shy the cats eat right along with them ( the cat food ) but will give the skunks a little more room at times LOL they do seal a few chicken eggs but we never eat all them any way . one did spray one of dogs about two or three years ago but it was corner'ed in a fenced in area no where to run they now avoid the area
any way I have caught a few in the past even dispatched a few years ago then started the catch and release
tonight I caught one in a shed looking for cat food I shut the door and then blocked off the cat door
chased it around a bit it was hiding behind what it could . but I had a clear chance so I grabbed it by the tail and put it a cat littler plastic bucket ( had holes drilled in the top from previous catches ) its a fairly young one
and last second got to scared as I was lowering into the bucket and sprayed a little not on me ( but I was expecting it too ) I am sure I got a bit of the fall out cloud as the dog keeps looking at me funny now
any way tomorrow a trip down to the river and it will have a new home
I am sure my wife will want to pet it when she gets up to go to work she thinks there so cute
i have learned if they think you no real danger or any harm going to happen they do there best to avoid spraying and wasting there reserve , I have been in contact with hem many times just be calm and talk to them seems to keep them calm
the skunks I can deal and even live with and the raccoon hanging around but the ground hog seems to know his time will end if I see or catch him
any way I have caught a few in the past even dispatched a few years ago then started the catch and release
tonight I caught one in a shed looking for cat food I shut the door and then blocked off the cat door
chased it around a bit it was hiding behind what it could . but I had a clear chance so I grabbed it by the tail and put it a cat littler plastic bucket ( had holes drilled in the top from previous catches ) its a fairly young one
and last second got to scared as I was lowering into the bucket and sprayed a little not on me ( but I was expecting it too ) I am sure I got a bit of the fall out cloud as the dog keeps looking at me funny now
any way tomorrow a trip down to the river and it will have a new home
I am sure my wife will want to pet it when she gets up to go to work she thinks there so cute
i have learned if they think you no real danger or any harm going to happen they do there best to avoid spraying and wasting there reserve , I have been in contact with hem many times just be calm and talk to them seems to keep them calm
the skunks I can deal and even live with and the raccoon hanging around but the ground hog seems to know his time will end if I see or catch him
Comments
but to finish the story I went out a short time ago to take it on a trip to the river /woods about a mile or so away
but I had not secured it all that well so its back running loose .
my wife told me as she was headed off to work it will be waiting to ambush me tonight ..
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
I know I shouldn’t say this, but haven’t had one near by since the dog got skunked about 7 years ago. Glad Boxers have short hair!
i give them a very wide berth, not sure if I’d even shoot one within 100 yards of the house, garage, barn. Let alone try to catch one.
Had one in the garage when I was a kid, dad called the vet and got some pills That we ground into a few small balls of hamburger and chucked the balls in at the skunk. After he ate and was asleep, we relocated him. That was the last time I was knowingly close except to expired ones in the road!
I had already played chase around the shed there is trash cans full of chicken feed and bowels of cat food and assorted other buckets the car door , a hole cut in the shed has a small piece of ply wood partially covering it , I had blocked the out side ( just a metal siding style ) he went behind the ply wood could not see me and I already had the cat littler bucket to put him in ready.
his tail was still sticking out from behind the piece of plywood so I grabbed it pulled and put it it the bucket so fast it did not have time to react . like I said it was a younger one also .
I have cornered them in the past and just allow them to walk on by to get away I always talk in a calm voice when around them ,
I would guess a half dozen times I have 'petted" different one's facing me they got use to seeing me is my guess and posed no danger when its calm even pulled a couple tails when they were head down in a trash can of empty feed bags they think its just another skunk ( just a guess )
one of our dogs a few years ago got a good face full and I used the above procedure ( jimmyjack posted )
at night they do not see very well many years ago I would just get close and " bang" end of skunk(s) none ever sprayed when shot then I just started the catch and release I toss a old blanket or towel over the live trap they will not spray if they have no target then just haul them off .
this last group of skunks I have just for the most part just shared my yard and out buildings with they remind me of cats when playing or eating they honestly do not cause much trouble and eat the dry cat food I keep at the chicken coop I think it also keeps them from digging up the yard or wondering up to the house or out in the yard looking for food .
I just decided to catch them before another dog gets to close funny but the cats and skunks they are all buddies no threat so they don't spray them but then again the cats eat with the raccoons and opossums they do not seem to be picky about there friends
I've heard they cannot spray if they can't raise their tail.
If this don't work, shoot their tail off right behind their ears.
Skunks and Foxes are the two main carriers of rabies. (and fleas, ticks and no telling what else)
I was sitting in a tree stand deer hunting few years ago and witnessed a skunk come by in the daytime, it would stand for awhile, then fall on it's side and snap at the air. It moved out about 40 yards and laid down. I slowly and quietly got out of the tree before dark so as I could watch the sick feller. Next day I went to the stand after daylight, slowly and quietly watching for the animal with gun at the ready and the skunk was still where it was the evening before dead.
Have no desire to have them skunks and foxes around me or my animals.
many years ago 20+ I shot a raccoon that came up in the yard and I sure it was sick it was wobbling around and at 3:00 pm on a nice summer day not sure what it had gong on but dispatched it I do not recall if I burned it or burred it . the only animal I have seen around that had a problem