Need advice on a Skunk predator!!!

[Evermore Ranch]

we heard the dogs go crazy last night and immediately went outside to find our pheasants going crazy. Appears that something climbed onto the roof of the pen. while we were checking on them the geese start yelling so we go check on them and see something jump onto our roof and run across to another tree and then run to the woods with my dogs hot on its trail. Then tonight we walk out when the dogs are going crazy and WOW

strong smell of skunk in the air. We are making rounds to check on all birds. . . all are fine and even calm. The smell keeps getting stronger and then weaker. . . we narrow it down to one of my dogs (poor thing - i am out of tomato juice until i can get to the store tomorrow). We have had something earlier in the spring wipe out about 30 birds in 2 nights. And have been smelling skunk off and on several nights since. Any advice to rid ourselves a skunk or strengthen our coop safety would be great!!!!!

 

[cw]

if you can shoot it were your at aim for the head, youll have a better chance of takin him out with out him sprayin, but you may need to renforce the coop as well, if there are skunks around opossums and coons will be there as well

 

[ruby]

Have you tried a radio out there at night? and some human pee out around the coop will make them think twice.

 

[Big C]

Leg trap with eggs as bait.
Set the trap in a downwind area if you can. This way when you shoot it the smell will disapate away from your property.
If you have a 22 rifle, aim for the upper body. Dig a hole and bury in the area the skunk came from if you can determine. This way any relatives or family it has will likely not want to go near that area again. Usually works...

 

[Evermore Ranch]

ok my DH is going to turn the stereo on and move a speaker closer to the birds (shed is right by all the coops) and he has a nightly pee by the coops, he said he will do that more often and i will get my son involved as well. Thank you so very much. I never used to leave my dogs loose until we were raided and was raided once since, so I started leaving another one out (the one who got sprayed tonight) (he loves his chooks very much). Thank youfor the quick responses!!! We have killed several possums over the years, but thankfully

we have not seen any coons here for over 6-7 years. Our biggest problem and why i had to quit free ranging are foxes!

 

[BantyRooster]

Quote:
That's not true at all. DONT shoot the skunk in the head. Shoot him thru the lungs and he will expire in just a few seconds and chances are 50/50 he won't spray. If you shoot it in the head it is 100% that he will spray.

Besides that, skunks are known carries of the rabies virus and the virus is in the brain. If you shoot it in the head you risk exposing yourself to the virus if the skunk is a carrier.

OP- you can use hydrogen peroxide, bakiing soda and dawn dish soap to remove the skunk smell from your dog. If you google it, you can get the right ratio, but if I remember correctly it is one pint H2O2, one cup soda, and one tsp Dawn. You can't store it after you mix it, so use it all or discard any leftover.

I doubt it was a skunk you saw going through the trees. Perhaps a possum, most likely a coon. Possums dont moves very fast, much slower than coons, especially in a tree.

Trust me on this one, I've been a trapper for several years. I have alot of experience w/ skunks.

Hope this helps.

 

[stethomps]

I would definitely rid yourself of the skunk. Those weasels love a poultry dinner. I haven’t trapped one in awhile (knock on wood), but of the ones I have trapped (maybe 6 or so) I think they all, or at least most of them, sprayed when I shot them. Just don’t try what I did the first time I caught one: I tried to throw a blue tarp over the trap, and well you can guess it; it sprayed, and I got stinky.

My dog also got sprayed last spring; I poured vinegar over him, and washed him twice with dawn. If you stuck your nose in his fur you could smell it, but he was pretty much completely odor free in a week or so.

 

[Evermore Ranch]

Quote:
That's not true at all. DONT shoot the skunk in the head. Shoot him thru the lungs and he will expire in just a few seconds and chances are 50/50 he won't spray. If you shoot it in the head it is 100% that he will spray.

Besides that, skunks are known carries of the rabies virus and the virus is in the brain. If you shoot it in the head you risk exposing yourself to the virus if the skunk is a carrier.

OP- you can use hydrogen peroxide, bakiing soda and dawn dish soap to remove the skunk smell from your dog. If you google it, you can get the right ratio, but if I remember correctly it is one pint H2O2, one cup soda, and one tsp Dawn. You can't store it after you mix it, so use it all or discard any leftover.

I doubt it was a skunk you saw going through the trees. Perhaps a possum, most likely a coon. Possums dont moves very fast, much slower than coons, especially in a tree.

Trust me on this one, I've been a trapper for several years. I have alot of experience w/ skunks.

Hope this helps.

That is very good information to have on hand Thank you!!! DH said he would have aimed for the head but will go for lungs now Thank you again!!
Sounds good looking up the recipe now!
The more we talk about it we are wonderng if what we saw last night may have even been a stray cat (it was VERY cat like in shape).
I love these forums because you can learn from so many others experiences, and people are willing to help!!!

 

[Evermore Ranch]

ok those of you with live trap experience with skunks what is the best bait to use?

 

[ruby]

We caught 2 raccoons and one opossum. we are still trapping, live trap though. I would hate to catch a skunk. When I was a teenager a skunk moved into our barn. When I told my dad he said leave it alone and it will leave you alone. He didn't disturb it because it kept snakes away from our horse, calf barn. After a few weeks it moved on.