Relocating a DANGEROUS SKUNK

[Jeff]

... to a better place.

Well, they can be dangerous!! I just about had a heart attack when I thought a tweetie bird was the skunk!! Really, he had to go. There are always dogs here,  and Skunks and Dogs, never the two should meet.  I'm sure it was a better place he went. I imagine there are angels.

Relocating a DANGEROUS SKUNK to a better place. - YouTube

[Magicman]

I have given many skunks the same swimming lessons and there was never a smell from any of them.  Armadillos can't swim either.

[Ed]

Neither do chipmunks.....

Ed

[Ljohnsaw]

Neither do squirrels... I'm over run with chipmunks and squirrels.  Somebody decided to chew up the seat on one of my camp chairs trying to get the thin foam rubber out.  So I set out several 5 gallon pails half full of water.  They hang down to drink and sometimes slip in.  Get and average of 2 a day.

[doc henderson]

some will run a hose of exhaust under the tarp and they will go to sleep, and not wake up.  If that seems more humane to you.  I have shot them, and it not always as quick as one would hope.  he needed to be gone, and it good that you did not take even the skunks life for granted.  

[Jeff]

He/she was really a beautiful animal, but it's conduct made it obvious he had chosen poorly on where to winter up. Sorry Skunk.

[aigheadish]

@Jeff you are a lunatic getting that close! The b@lls on you are insane, well done!

[Chuck White]

I've taken an old/small tarp and laid it over a skunk in a box trap, then just picked the trap up by the handle and put the trap in the back of the truck to relocate, and no smell.

[WV Sawmiller]

   I have caught them by the tail and hauled them off and released them. Done properly they cannot spray. Done improperly you get shots at the bite location and 4 shots in the arms and hips (1 per week). BTW - the co-pay for rabies shots was $800. I don't know what the current rate is. (Don't ask!)

[aigheadish]

You guys are bonkers. My old childhood dog would fairly regularly get sprayed in the middle of the night and that's as close as I ever want to be. 

[Walnut Beast]

Walking with the dog several times and had several times kid gets sprayed and off we go and off he goes. Usually laughing like crazy when the kid is running his snout across the ground after he's sprayed.

[Jeff]

I felt bonkers, but better me than the dogs. 

[WV Sawmiller]

   The week before we got married my wife's German Shepherd got sprayed. They heard the dog whining outside so they opened the door to let her in and she ran through the entire house before they found she had been sprayed or before they could catch her and take her outside for a very detailed scrubbing. Of course the house also had to get detailed right when my MIL had plenty of other things to occupy her mind. 

[B.C.C. Lapp]

I've taken an old/small tarp and laid it over a skunk in a box trap, then just picked the trap up by the handle and put the trap in the back of the truck to relocate, and no smell.

Chuck, "relocating" usually results in the animals slow death instead of a fast humane one.  This also pretty much applies to squirrels, opossum, raccoons and rabbits.   Bears, deer, turkeys, they can abide being moved and survive.  Very few small animals can.   

[doc henderson]

the trick is getting a live fearful skunk out of a trap without getting sprayed.  then how far do you have to take them so they do not find there way "home".  how many times do you want to trap and move the same animal.  a bite from a rabid animal is of course deadly if not recognized and treated.

[Gere Flewelling]

I have had to dispose of many skunks around my home over the years. Tried to shoot them with a 22 but they always sprayed. Went to a 12gauge shotgun with #6 or 8 birdshot. Works great! Over in an instant for them and no spraying.  Tried a few times to convince them to leave but they don't listen. :-[

[Jeff]

Apparently most humans, even on facebook understand the incompatibilities. I shared the video on a u.p. group I'm in absolutey knowing I was going to get hammered. Nope. Not once. So far....

[doc henderson]

your unease was apparent, and I felt your pain in that the skunk was just being a skunk.  It is good to be humble and not take any joy in doing what you needed to do, to claim that property for yourself and family.

[beenthere]

When I get one in a live trap, I just drag the trap several hundred feet away from my house and buildings, and use the .410 to dispatch. Come back the next day to empty the live trap. Pulling them in the live trap, they just go along with the trap and do not spray.

WV sawmiller..
I'll believe the "holding up by the tail" story when you have shown that trick on a video.   :D 8) 8) ;D

[WV Sawmiller]

BT,

   Now you've hurt my feelings. :( ;)

Catching a Skunk by Hand Without Getting Sprayed - YouTube

    I never used a stick or pole like this guy shows (and don't care for the ending) but it does show you can hold one without getting sprayed. You do have to shake them down sometimes as they will twist around and if they reach their tail with their front feet they will climb/pull themselves up and bite your hand. 

   I have caught many, many wild animals by hand and never had the heart to kill it afterwards. I have no problem dispatching a skunk, coon or possum but the ones I caught I relocated and released in a safe area away from where it was causing problems. 

[KEC]

What works well is to put the trap beside an outbuilding and lean a piece of plywood  over it; keeps the skunk out of the hot sun or rain and keeps it calm. When it's caught, tilt the plywood out and carefully put an old cloth over the trap. If you put the cloth over it before it's caught it will pull the cloth off and into the mesh. Calmly pick up the trap and carry it off, load it in your truck or whatever. When I did wildlife control work I made a long wire mesh box open on one end. I'd put it end to end with a trap with a skunk in it and prop the door of the trap open and wait for the skunk to go to the end of the box and shoot it with a .22 rifle and CB cap bullets. Lung shots were less likely to cause them to spray. I handled 122 skunks one year. When handling them it is important to watch the skunks' behavior, when they get upset you back off and let them calm a bit. Not all behave the same, many are not hard to deal with and some will want to spray you from over 10' away.

[Jeff]

Well, I'm satisfied how this went. I just tried to return the trap to the nrighbor, and he says to hang on to it for now. Its a spare and he just caught number 6 today. He's a mile away, but has bee hives they are attracted to

[WV Sawmiller]

Jeff,

   That's a good point about the skunks and bees. The skunks will stand at the front of a hive and scratch on the porch and eat the worker/defense bees as they come out to defend the hive.  I don't know how they survive the stings but they apparently do. If he eats enough of them he can do serious damage to the hives production and ability to defend itself against other pests - animal and insect types.

    It is fine when you see a big hole in the ground with paper nest material scattered around where a skunk dug up a yellowjacket nest and destroyed them but not such a good thing when it is some farmers bees. >:(

[trapper]

you worked too hard to move that skunk.  Just come in slow from the back of the trap and pull the cover all the way over the trap.  Pick it up and put it on the back of the utv.  Take it to where you want to release it.  Put trap on ground open door and let him walk out. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Well now I find myself with a similar problem. This afternoon around 3pm I went out to the garage (detached) and found a cute little coon chewing through our garbage bags. He looked to be an adolescent. I had a talk with him and explained how his behavior was unacceptable and he slowly gave up his spot and wandered toward the hole he had made in my siding. An hour later I checked in again and he was back. I repeated the discussion with a little more detailed explanation. Again he wandered off and this time I snapped a lid on the garbage can we have never needed before.
 I was tempted to just grab my .380 which was feet away, but my grandson was with me and thought the little guy looked cute (which he did). Also I had to consider 'trajectory' and it wasn't great. So I opened the front garage door for an easy exit and gave him another hour. I also closed up the hole he made. I gave him an hour, looked around and did not find him, so I closed it all up. hopefully that's the end of our relationship, but if it's not, I have to plan the next step.

 Maybe I should just stick a trap out now? I could take him a couple of miles down the raod where there is lots of open woods. I don't have a pond. ;D