Need advice on a Skunk predator!!!

[Evermore Ranch]

HOLY COW! glad everyone made it!

Sorry to hear about your invader. I have never seen the skunk here only smell them!

unless he was the roof predator we saw last night.

 

[cw]

you should google shooting a skunk, it brings up all sorts of useless stuff about skunks

 

[Fourgirlsoneboy]

Wanted to add that you can get rabies from all body fluids (ie, blood). And here at least skunks are a carrier! Wear gloves when disposing the body and bleach the trap (or whatever got blood on it).

 

[cw]

Quote:
very good tips good thinking

 

[joedie]

We had noticed some strange looking poop in one of our barns the other day and something has been eating our barn cats food for quite a while now. My DH put the Have-a-heart trap baited with dry cat food and the next morning had a skunk. My DH dragged it out of the barn with a long pole and hook. My BIL who is visiting from AZ shot him thru the head (and thru the small wires of the cage) from about 60 ft away. NO spray! We dumped him from the cage into the bucket loader and took him into the woods where buzzards immediately spotted it and dispatched it evidence. We washed off the bucket and cage with bleach.
We are still trapping each night because I think where there's one, their is probably more.

 

[stethomps]

Quote:
It might sound crazy, but I use Peanutbutter and Jelly.

 

[antlers]

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.

Agree on the lung shot. Lately I have been doing chest shots with a 20 gauge and very few spray. Even then they dont actually spray. It more a relaxing of hte muscles and you get some leakage occasionally.

 

[tfpets]

Our gun issue here is houses are pretty close, we cant actually use anything bigger, at least thats what my husband says. I want MUCH bigger! And again last night AFTER I posted, we DID lose another chicken! It pulled a small pullet right through the wire of a lower coop, there was blood this time (very rare and my husband heard the commotion)...we set the traps with boiled eggs and cat food but nothing. I went out while it was still dark this morning to check the traps.....and I actually TRIPPED over another darn skunk on my way out there!! Fortunately it just ran away, but man, was I spooked!

 

[jharrison58]

Hi folks:
Brand new to chickens, just got the coop built and hope to have a few by the end of the weekend.
What a great site!!!
I wanted to see if anyone has tried this before when it come to skunks. As you folks know they are great climbers and have a great sense of smell, if you have an issue with firearms in your local or just want to avoid the potential of the scent glands going off after the skunk is killed you can try this. I've trapped dozens over the past 20 years by taking an empty standard plastic garbage 55 gallon size can and dumping bait in the very bottom. Usually I use the eggs shells and peanut butter on bread routine, or cat food. Then you take pam cooking spray and liberally apply to the inside of the can, any kind of oil will work. I usually brace the can up in a corner of my garage where the skunk can climb the wall studs to get to the can. Tie it off so it won't tip over and more often then not you'll have a guest by morning. The neat thing is they will not spray in the bottom of the can, you can pop on a top and in our area I just take them out to a land trust and let them go. Works slick. Believe me I'm a pretty serious hunter so if I was comforable with killing one I wouldn't hesitate, this is just easier and far less mess. I have never been sprayed using this trick. Best of luck
Jim

 

[aussiemom]

Hi! We just had this problem that started about 2 weeks ago. So far we lost about 14 chickens. They are brutal killers. It would kill about 5-6 a night, most were large adult size. We went out about 15-30 minutes after the sun went down and found 2 skunks in there. We shot them, one was badly wounded but got away. Then 3 days later 5 more were dead (heads brutally bitten) Finally again my husband shot a huge skunk. They come out at the same time every evening. We finally bought a heavy duty 8x12 shed for a coop and they are put up every night for 2 nights now. We have spotted another skunk but have been unable to catch him. Our chickens are finally safe now! whew"
They are very regular at coming out right after the sunsets (about 15 min to half hour) every night.
Hope this helps
Teresa