Aaacckk: Skunk sleeping in nest box!

[chickenannie]

When I got home tonight, my guineas, roo, and black chickens were OUTSIDE the coop, in the dark, looking really freaked out. ( I usually lock up their house after dark). I couldn't figure out what was wrong until I looked in the henhouse and there was a SKUNK curled up in a nestbox on top of a fake egg and a golfball! Aaaaaackk. boy did he scare me. And what was I to do!? I did NOT want to get sprayed! The other 25 hens were still sleeping on the roost. There must have been a big ruckus just before I got home.

But I figured I had to do SOMETHING, so I finally moved the whole heavy 10-nest unit enough to chase skunky out, who slowly strolled out the door. I had to go round up the other chickens which were scattered around the farm -- still missing 5, but I'll have to wait till morning. Luckily no spray. But I saw SKUNKIE's digging holes all over in BOTH henhouses and 3 eggs were eaten today besides. I sure hope he didn't eat those missing chickens.

I'm going to have to do something -- maybe trap him? Who takes re-homed skunks?

 

[theOEGBman]

Im sorry, but that is hilarious! I would have freaked out and then tried to pet it,lol. Thanks for not immediately killing it out of ignorance. Hopefully you can come up with a humane way to remove him.

 

[augiedranch]

i see ur not from tx which is good... there is a law out here with skunks.. nobody will relocate them.. its a law/rule that once caught/trapped they have to be killed.. not even rescue places will take them.. its sad.. i work at a vet clinic and these people brought in two baby skunks and dropped them off .. the vet was gonna kill em, but i told him they died in the back, and i brought them home.. lol one lived.. i got the other one on its feet then let it go..

skunks in tx are number one carriers for rabbies.

8 out of 10 skunks are said to have rabbies..... its sad they are beautiful creatures

 

[Redfeathers]

Aww...skunks need love too! and you kicked him out into the cold hard world.

Don't you just want to

me? lol

 

[horsejody]

I think it's illegal to relocate skunks and raccoons in most places.

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

Last year we had skunk problems, they loved eating eggs. We found out they were under the shed and we tried to flood them out which didnt work. We got a trap and put eggs and a dead chick in it. The next morning we had a skunk in it. Luckly it couldnt raise its tail to spray. We put a towel over it, then drove around, found a national park and set it loose, looking at it I wanted to keep it, it had the most beautiful eyes. The next night we re-set it just to be safe and caught another, but it was dead when we got to it, so I think it must be the one we tried to flood out and was just so stressed that when it heard the door close it panicked.
In other words, get a trap, even borrow one and set it, if you have to kill them, use dry ice or car exhaust, something humane. Just keep resetting it until you dont catch any more.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

LOL. It wanted to set some eggs. Sorry, no advice..

-Kim

 

[chickenannie]

Yeah, I think trapping it in a Havahart trap and taking it to a forest is the only way for me to go. The skunk lived here last hear and just poked around once in a while -- never ate eggs though. We just "ignored" each other.

But after last night and a few other eggs missing over the past week, I think he's found a treasure trove that he's not going to give up. This morning there were TONS of little holes all around the buildings, and places where he was trying to dig back into the henhouse. He/She must be really hungry or something (do they hibernate?).

He is cute (and fits perfectly into a nest box), but with a flock of almost 60 birds, with it being nesting season, and with a phobia of every here of getting sprayed, SKUNK has GOT to go.

Those of you who caught a skunk -- how did you keep it from spraying??

 

[LynneP]

There are humane traps designed to lure skunks and keep the tail down- your hardware store, feed store or a local wildlife department may lease or sell them. Skunks hate naphthalene moth balls - be sure to put them in a cotton bag so you don't leave any in your coop if you decide to repel him with these until you can move him. I'd expect more than one, by the way, so a trap may be a good investment. Oh and buy some Irish spring soap or other um...deodorizing material...yowlllllllll

Skunks spray out of fear of course, and must be facing you to do that. I remember one day my husband was digging at the edge of deep grass and he and a skunk inadventently came face to face. He swung a shovel and missed then started to chase the skunk. All the while I was yelling a him to stop, to back off and then he thought about it. He wa running *backwards* when the skunk turned and sprayed- was very lucky because a gust of wind took away some of the scent, but he had to wash in our rainbarrel with Irish spring and we laundered his clothes outdoors.

And after you're rid of him/them...look at how you may create galvanized wire barriers to digging. or get a Jack Russell...

 

[turnerstar31]

I don;t know if it is true or not but I have heard that they can go after some of your birds so u may want to be careful and make sure they are locked up at night and keep an eye on them in the day.