Help! We caught a skunk!

[mom2landj]

When we were staying up at camp, we had something getting into the coop at night and eating eggs and leaving the shells by the door. My friend had the great idea of setting a live trap to catch whatever it was. I was thinking a raccoon most likely. My husband had the great idea to put the trap INSIDE the coop right in front of the chicken door with eggs in the back so that it would just walk right into it. Well it did. And it is a SKUNK!!! What on earth do we do now?!?!?

 

[Ridgerunner]

First you panic and get that out of your system. Once you have calmed down and can act reasonably decide what you are going to do with it. It’s probably illegal to release it anywhere but on your own property without the property owner’s permission. If you are in suburbia animal control might come get it. Then they might not.

If you are where animal control is no help, and many of us are, you are on your own. You might call a professional animal control service or a trapper and pay them to come get it. You may need to deal with it yourself. Personally I consider guns a means of last resort. I’ve seen what ricochets can do and besides that’s probably illegal where you are. Still it might be an option. I prefer to drown them. I put the entire trap in a 55 gallon barrel and just wait. My main concern is that a human does not get hurt and I sure don’t want to hurt a neighbor’s cattle or horses. I use a gun when I need to but I don’t need to with an animal in a trap.

Skunks generally aren’t that anxious to spray if you remain calm and move slowly. They also don’t like to spray in an enclosed area. If you take a large piece of plastic and hold that in front of you as you approach to protect against spray, then put that over the trap, you can normally handle them without them spraying. Normally. I sure can’t give you any guarantees on that.

Good luck. I strongly suggest you improve the security of your coop and run to try to avoid this in the future. It is a pain to deal with for sure.

I made a cover to go over my trap so the only way an animal can get to the bait is through the front of the trap. I set that trap expecting a raccoon a couple of days ago. When I went down there yesterday morning the trap was sprung. I very cautiously tilted that cover back to see what it was and saw black and white. My heart stopped, then I saw it was a feral cat which I released. I do have sympathy with you in catching a skunk. Good luck!

 

[123RedBeard]

Other than shooting it, whacking it over the head, or drowning (1st two will probably cause it to spray as it dies!)

If you have an older car or even a lawn tractor ... Put the trap (with animal still inside, never touch a live animal in a trap) in a box or bag ... Hook it up to the exhaust, quiet, and it just goes off to sleep ... Newer cars run danger and don't put off as much of the deadly gases older vehicles do!

Cold engines tend to also pollute more ...