Will a skunk eat a duck?

[ducklover87]

 

X2!

 

[ducksinarow]

I have some critter living under my shed which is about 40 feet from my duck coop ever year. This year it was skunks. They stayed there about 3 weeks till they moved on. My dog got sprayed twice. He is an inside dog and sleeps in our bedroom. That was horrible. This happened a couple years ago also. I guess I have a strange affinity for skunks because I picked up a baby skunk off of the road once. It was trying to eat a hide and not getting anything. We fed it some cat food and it curled up in our hand and fell asleep. It was not more than 4 inches long. Then we took it to a rehabber. Last year it was a ground hog but the ducks ran it off. My one eyed cat was having a face off with it and the ducks charged. A few years ago a ground hog raised a baby in the backyard. The little groundhog would climb up on the lawn chairs. It was cute. I free range also. But when I know there is a critter I put them up early I think they might get hungrier at night. There is always cat food out so I think I attract freeloaders. But thankfully I have never had a problem. I am sorry that your birdy was killed. Hope they all stay safe.

 

[ducklover87]

I have some critter living under my shed which is about 40 feet from my duck coop ever year. This year it was skunks. They stayed there about 3 weeks till they moved on. My dog got sprayed twice. He is an inside dog and sleeps in our bedroom. That was horrible. This happened a couple years ago also. I guess I have a strange affinity for skunks because I picked up a baby skunk off of the road once. It was trying to eat a hide and not getting anything. We fed it some cat food and it curled up in our hand and fell asleep. It was not more than 4 inches long. Then we took it to a rehabber. Last year it was a ground hog but the ducks ran it off. My one eyed cat was having a face off with it and the ducks charged. A few years ago a ground hog raised a baby in the backyard. The little groundhog would climb up on the lawn chairs. It was cute. I free range also. But when I know there is a critter I put them up early I think they might get hungrier at night. There is always cat food out so I think I attract freeloaders. But thankfully I have never had a problem. I am sorry that your birdy was killed. Hope they all stay safe.

Oh my what a cute story! Thankfully my dogs haven't been sprayed. My other family dog got sprayed once right in her face, the poor thing. But she is smell free now and lives with my grandma. I saw footprints in the driveway one day that wasn't from any of my animals so I have been putting them to bed early but that night I had decided to take a nap and hadn't put them to bed and when I got up a couple hours later I knew it was a big mistake to take a nap. I now have an alarm set so even if I am sleeping I will be up in time to put them away before dark. Thank you. Same goes for you and your babies.

 

[Searsmom]

So I know it's skunks. I went out a little later the other night, it was already dark. Did my usual "crazy lady talks to herself" thing to give any skunks out there time to get away. Got all the way to the outside door, knelt down and was face-to-face with a skunk, tail upright thankfully in the other direction. Dignity flung aside, I scrambled all the way back to the driveway. Decided to go shut the other door. Looked in and there was one at the food dish with it's back to me. I threw stuff at the side of the house and yelled to run them off.

Once the chicken house is closed, there's no way they can get in. I check daily for somebody trying to dig under. I've been making sure there's no spare food left out and dumping the water so they have to go thirsty as well.

I'm not brave enough to trap one and try to put it in my car for release somewhere and there is no service out here that will do it for me. I can shoot it...but the smell....I'll probably only be able to see them at night when they're close by the chicken house and I don't want myself or the chickens (and one duck) to have to live with that smell. OK, mostly me.

I'm thinking a pit with peanut butter bait and check daily. Can they climb out a dirt pit? I'm thinking shoot it and immediately throw dirt over. How big would the pit have to be? Knowing me, I'll probably forget about it an fall in myself.

There will be small chickens and ducks in this house come spring.

Thoughts? Tips? Tricks? Laughter?

 

[Miss Lydia]

So I know it's skunks. I went out a little later the other night, it was already dark. Did my usual "crazy lady talks to herself" thing to give any skunks out there time to get away. Got all the way to the outside door, knelt down and was face-to-face with a skunk, tail upright thankfully in the other direction. Dignity flung aside, I scrambled all the way back to the driveway. Decided to go shut the other door. Looked in and there was one at the food dish with it's back to me. I threw stuff at the side of the house and yelled to run them off.

Once the chicken house is closed, there's no way they can get in. I check daily for somebody trying to dig under. I've been making sure there's no spare food left out and dumping the water so they have to go thirsty as well.

I'm not brave enough to trap one and try to put it in my car for release somewhere and there is no service out here that will do it for me. I can shoot it...but the smell....I'll probably only be able to see them at night when they're close by the chicken house and I don't want myself or the chickens (and one duck) to have to live with that smell. OK, mostly me.

I'm thinking a pit with peanut butter bait and check daily. Can they climb out a dirt pit? I'm thinking shoot it and immediately throw dirt over. How big would the pit have to be? Knowing me, I'll probably forget about it an fall in myself.

There will be small chickens and ducks in this house come spring.

Thoughts? Tips? Tricks? Laughter?

Best thing to do is lock up before dusk, make sure all food is put up. I know skunks have claws so they maybe able to climb out of a pit. But what if you forget and the skunk is in the pit and you accidentally fall in there with it? Now that would be the pits. I do think Skunks would kill a young chicken or duck but they mostly go after the eggs.

 

[Searsmom]

Funny thing about those skunks. They were solid black except for a white patch about the size of a baseball on the back of their necks.

You're right. I'd probably fall in with the skunk.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Funny thing about those skunks. They were solid black except for a white patch about the size of a baseball on the back of their necks.

You're right. I'd probably fall in with the skunk.

You got a good look at them didn't you. We have them around here but it's usually the smell that alerts me to the fact they've been around.

 

[Searsmom]

You got a good look at them didn't you. We have them around here but it's usually the smell that alerts me to the fact they've been around.

Oh, from about 2' away - face level. I was a jibbering loon for a few seconds.

I'd always thought they had a big stripe running down their backs, but nope.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Oh, from about 2' away - face level. I was a jibbering loon for a few seconds.

I'd always thought they had a big stripe running down their backs, but nope.

lol I bet, and I think there are different types of skunk depending on what part of the country your in,You might want to go to the predator and pests thread and maybe someone can give you more info on the best way to deal with them, I know they have sharp teeth.

 

[ducklover87]

So I know it's skunks. I went out a little later the other night, it was already dark. Did my usual "crazy lady talks to herself" thing to give any skunks out there time to get away. Got all the way to the outside door, knelt down and was face-to-face with a skunk, tail upright thankfully in the other direction. Dignity flung aside, I scrambled all the way back to the driveway. Decided to go shut the other door. Looked in and there was one at the food dish with it's back to me. I threw stuff at the side of the house and yelled to run them off.

Once the chicken house is closed, there's no way they can get in. I check daily for somebody trying to dig under. I've been making sure there's no spare food left out and dumping the water so they have to go thirsty as well.

I'm not brave enough to trap one and try to put it in my car for release somewhere and there is no service out here that will do it for me. I can shoot it...but the smell....I'll probably only be able to see them at night when they're close by the chicken house and I don't want myself or the chickens (and one duck) to have to live with that smell. OK, mostly me.

I'm thinking a pit with peanut butter bait and check daily. Can they climb out a dirt pit? I'm thinking shoot it and immediately throw dirt over. How big would the pit have to be? Knowing me, I'll probably forget about it an fall in myself.

There will be small chickens and ducks in this house come spring.

Thoughts? Tips? Tricks? Laughter?

Oh wow what a scary thing to go through. When I trapped that one in that conibear trap there was no smell. However my uncle said that there could be it's hard to tell if it would stink or not. But the only smell was just the smell of the skunk itself. Same goes for shooting it. It really just depends on the skunk if it will spray or not when it dies. Live traps are tricky too. Skunks are good diggers so I'm assuming that unless it had perfect 90degree angle sides the skunk would be able to dig or climb it's way out. Even then they might still be able to.