skunks anyone?

[sundance]

Does anyone have a problem with skunks. Rasha had to go the the bathroom at 5.00am this morning and when i opened the back door to let her out, all i could smell was skunk odor, then she took off barking. We have lived here 6 years and never had a skunk before, but I'm afraid of rabies as we live at 40 & Plumb. My dogs have their rabies shots but i still don't know what i would do if one of them got sprayed. I think Rasha thought I was nuts when i grabbed her and started sniffing her before she came back in the house.

Owned by 12 RIR's, 1 pit bull, 1 poodle mix.1 yorkie, and 1 crabby gray cat

 

[Littlecimarron18]

ok. so heres how to get rid of a skunk, get a large bucket, and fill it with enough water so that a skunk can drowned, but not enough so they can reach the sides, then make a little ramp and a small 1" by 1" across the top. on the "bridge" put an egg with the top cracked open,


Then put it somewhere when u think the skunk would be. When the skunk sees the egg, They love eggs, it will climb up the ramp and onto the little stick, when it tries to get the egg it will lose its balance falling into the water and drowning , it shouldnt spray because it has no time.

 

[lacyloo]

Now skunks mostly eat eggs and i have them all around me and have never had a problem with one. I even thrap the little spoted skunks around my house just for fun then quickly but delicatly realese them. They can make exelent pets if demuxed. If you dont supply a skunk with free food like , catfood ,chickens feed, or eggs in the open they should pass by without stopping. I dont think they eat chickens anyways

 

[gila_dog]

I have had skunks kill my chickens. It's not common but it can happen. What they do is enter the chicken house at night and pull a chicken down off the roost.

The way I solved that problem was to put the entrance to the chicken house a couple of feet off the ground, with a board leaned up against it so the chickens have to "walk the plank" to get in or out. They learn pretty quick. After that no more loses to skunks.

Littlecimarron 's method of trapping skunks surprises me, since I didn't think they would climb up the ramp to the top of the bucket. Looks like I've learned something. Thanks. I've made skunk traps in the past. It's a box with chicken wire sides and a door that slides up and down one end. An egg hanging from a stick at the other end is the bait. When the skunk goes into the box and starts messing with the egg the stick wiggles and a wire going back and holding the door open gets moved, and the door slides shut. Then I shoot the skunk in the head with a .22 rifle. But STIIIIIINK! Man-o-man does it stink. They always seem to let loose anyway. Maybe I should try Littlecimarron's bucket trap instead.

I'm sure lots of people are going to answer with various methods of getting skunk stench off your dog. My dog loves to get "skunked". I can't imagine why, but he just loves it. What I do when it happens is take him outside and hose him down with water. So far I've been able to do it right away and it has always gotten rid of the stink. I guess if I didn't catch him right away and it had time to soak in that wouldn't work so well, tho.

 

[sundance]

Well giladog, when its -4 degrees outside, i don't think Rasha or my self would really like to be washed down, and that was what the temp was last i looked

 

[rufus]

Well, I had a problem with skunks living under my summer house up in the mountains. They moved in during the winter when I had the house closed up.

Well, my wife said she wasn't going to stay up there until I handled the skunk problem. So, I started feeding them dog food. Every day I would move the dish a little farther away.

Finally, I got them to move to a house about five houses down the road. I kept feeding them there until I had the entrance hole under my house well sealed up.

Now they are someone else's problem.

Ru'fus

 

[gila_dog]

Rufus, was there anybody living in that house at the time? That was a pretty dirty trick. My hat's off to you!

That reminds me of when my father-in-law told me how to deal with mosquitos in the bedroom at night. He said that if I would just reach over and pull the blanket off my wife's leg, the mosquitos would leave me alone.

 

[rufus]

Gila Dog, that house belonged to a banker that only came up there two or three times a season. Boy is he in for a suprise.

Rufus

 

[ahensnest]

HI, haven't been on in a LONG time lol. anywho, I was wondering if anyone has tried this bucket trap for skunks and if so how did it work out??

We moved last fall and I had to put my chickies behind my mom's house a few houses down. Well this spring we are having I believe skunk problems. Monday morning my mom's dog got sprayed BAD! This morning my hubby went over to feed the chickens and one of my roosters was across the road and there were a bunch of feathers ripped out and inside the coop 3 eggs were broken open!!

I have NEVER had any problems with predators except for an owl last year soIm not sure how to handle this! Any help is appreciated!

 

[Wolf-Kim]

If your dog does get sprayed DO NOT let it in the house right away. My father told me a story from when he was a boy and his German Shepherd got sprayed in the backyard, well to get the dog away from the skunk they let it into the house. BIG MISTAKE!! Everyone in the house was literally fighting for the bathroom because the entire family had gone to vomitting, the dog included. So unless you want to have to clean both the dog and your house from vomit and skunk odor, I suggest you allow the dog to "air-out" a little bit before bringing it in.

I have not dealt with skunks, so for advice with the skunk itself, I don't have any, sorry. I know they are opportunistic, so keep any food sources secure(pet food, livestock feed, trash, etc).

I've also heard they make great pets once "de-scented" but be wary of laws against the keeping of wild animals. I'm uncertain of the legality of catching, descenting, and keeping a skunk for a pet. Check your local laws and ordinances, and make sure there is a qualified vet(for descenting) before considering one as a pet.

-Kim