Beware Of Tunneling Skunks!!! (Graphic Pictures)

[MysteryChicken]

I hope so too, can't be fun killing and disposing of those stinky things.

Nope, it's not fun. But we gotta do, what it takes to protect our birds.

 

[PDXJULES]

Excuse the blurriness. It's cold out, & I shivered.
View attachment 2413167

Careful - they can spray 10 feet. Usually there is a stomp warning first, then up on front legs, but in this situation - I would not get close. Hope you have a .22 - and a clean shot away from any possible harm.

 

[roosterhavoc]

Nope, it's not fun. But we gotta do, what it takes to protect our birds.

How do you know the skunk killed that bird? The holes are in the muddy run and the bird is laying headless in leaves somewhere else?

 

[PDXJULES]

The hole wasn't in the yard the day before yesterday. So I'm not sure if another animal made it. The hole is larger then pictured.

The dirt is still quite solid under the top layer of mud, my shoes didn't sink in like they have before.
That run will be getting leaves put in it soon, so I won't have to worry about the mud.

I set the trap outside the run, near the fence.

My neighborhood has been pretty tolerant of Skunks, since they mostly hunt bugs and come out at night. Yours may have been a lone male - but there is a fair chance there is a nest nearby with a summer brood ready to hunt. Where i live, Skunks mate in Spring, then raise and teach their young all summer. I'd prepare for more...maybe get concrete pavers or big rocks over the burrow area? Urbanite is free on Craigslist. Good Luck!

 

[MysteryChicken]

How do you know the skunk killed that bird? The holes are in the muddy run and the bird is laying headless in leaves somewhere else?

There was Skunk smell in the coop. She was laying in the coop yard in front of the ramp leading to the chicken door.

I took the bird out of the run to be disposed of.

She was laying here.

 

[MysteryChicken]

My neighborhood has been pretty tolerant of Skunks, since they mostly hunt bugs and come out at night. Yours may have been a lone male - but there is a fair chance there is a nest nearby with a summer brood ready to hunt. Where i live, Skunks mate in Spring, then raise and teach their young all summer. I'd prepare for more...maybe get concrete pavers or big rocks over the burrow area? Urbanite is free on Craigslist. Good Luck!

I filled the tunnels with large rocks.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Careful - they can spray 10 feet. Usually there is a stomp warning first, then up on front legs, but in this situation - I would not get close. Hope you have a .22 - and a clean shot away from any possible harm.

I covered it with an old sheet, & carried the trapped Skunk into the woods, & did the deed.

 

[roosterhavoc]

There was Skunk smell in the coop. She was laying in the coop yard in front of the ramp leading to the chicken door.

I took the bird out of the run to be disposed of.

She was laying here.View attachment 2415088

Was there tracks in the mud? I’m just curious. Probably hard to tell with all the chicken prints though.

 

[aart]

Was there tracks in the mud? I’m just curious. Probably hard to tell with all the chicken prints though.

I was wondering why the trapped skunk wasn't all muddy.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Was there tracks in the mud? I’m just curious. Probably hard to tell with all the chicken prints though.

If there were any tracks in the mud, the birds most likely destroyed them. But in the areas around the coop where they've been digging there's tracks in the loose dirt though.