Skunk...this could get interesting

[blackfoot griz]

 

 

Earlier today, I decided to pull the little JD garden tractor out.  It stunk in there!
I pulled the mower deck etc.  I put the JD back where it sits in the picture.  I put up the chain link panel to keep the chickens out and let 'er air out in there. I noticed some disturbed dirt in front of the JD under my power washer.  I lifted up the power washer to find the skunk.  I got out of there before he/she could nail me.

Now, it's just a waiting game.  I do not like skunks--especially ones that take up residence right next to the chicken coop.

There is enough snow & ice around the building so the only way out is through the front.
If anybody has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

Tick...tock!

[GAB]

blackfoot griz:
I'm assuming that you do not care to smell it clear into the fall so the only thing I can think of is to put food out that will attract it.  If my assumption is wrong then some ammo could end the standoff, or a large box placed over it with a hose connected to the exhaust system of a running engine for an extended period of time might work.  Caution allow sufficient time for venting prior to entering the building.  Gerald

[thecfarm]

The skunk I caught was cutting down the population of my fine feathered friends.

[m wood]

He/she might have a family ready to emerge for the spring.  They'll come out (yup, tick, tock).  My skunk family came out to warm in the sun when they fully woke up from winter.  Me on the porch with a 22, them in the driveway, spread eagle.  One or two at a time and 7 were gone in the spread of 3 days.

[WDH]

I like the food with a trap idea.  Then, you could road trip it.

[1938farmall]

seems like trapping the critter is easy part - what to do next?

[Magicman]

Throw a tarp, etc. over the trap and drop it in the pond.  No smell or anything.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Eat some beans and 6 hard boiled eggs....go to the barn and y'all duke it out.  :D :D :D :D

[blackfoot griz]

Throw a tarp, etc. over the trap and drop it in the pond.  No smell or anything.

There is still ice on the pond...

Eat some beans and 6 hard boiled eggs….go to the barn and y'all duke it out.  :D :D :D :D

Speaking from experience?   :D

[gfadvm]

We'd always tie a long rope to the live trap and drag it downwind of the house/barn after we caught one before we shot it. Let it air for a day, take a pitchfork and toss the carcass over the fence. Our buzzards will dispose of a skunk carcass almost instantly!

[ST Ranch]

I live trap them with a purpose built live trap. It is about 10x10x24 inches long and has solid sides and a sliding end door.  Once caught, I take the trap out to the back 40 and finish with a piece of lead.  My first skunk I killed with a 22 by the barn and lived with the smell for weeks.  Switched to the live trap and minimal smell.  Once the skunk is contained in the trap, they dont spray.
Good luck.  Tom

[caveman]

I had a skunk in my garage several years ago.  After I found it, I used a landing net and attached it to a long, strong bamboo pole.  I netted the critter and released him in the yard.  On another occasion, we discovered a 5' gator in the same garage hanging out under my '68 Bronco.  I would much rather deal with a gator.
Caveman

[Freedom6178]

I know this sounds kind of odd but we used a product that was basically fox urine in a kitty litter form. We took some old nylons filled um with a cup or two of the stuff and thru em under the mobile home. Not 100% sure if that's what got rid of em or not but haven't had em sense. Bought it at the local farm store.

[Chuck White]

Generally if the area is "too" open, they'll leave!

[jargo432]

I've dealt with skunks for years, I too have chickens.  There's no real easy fix.  I've used leg traps, live traps and just good ole waiting them out with a shotgun.  One trick that works is to put some food out a little ways from your barn and spread some peanut butter on it for the smell.  Then mount a light over it.  The skunk will come out at night and go for the food.  Your job is to find a quiet way to check it through the night.  Once you catch him feasting take em out.  (This all assumes you live in the country and have clear fields of fire)

Good luck

[concretecutter]

take a milk crate 50 feet away from building open a can of sardines put it under milk create put a rock on top of it and place a leg hold trap next to the create staked down works everytime they might spray shoot him with a 22. or a live trap with sardines and when caught dunk him very slowly into a garbage can full of water.

[petefrom bearswamp]

live trap with a blanket (old one) over it and try teaching them to swim under water.

[Wick]

Eat some beans and 6 hard boiled eggs....go to the barn and y'all duke it out.  :D :D :D :D

:D I'm still laughing. You are a trip, man.

[GAB]

Poston:
I hope you don't get bit by a rabid skunk.  If you do you will need a lot more than eggs and beans. 
Lynn's suggestion works as they usually fail their swimming tests especially if you go and retrieve the trap the next day or later.  Gerald

[Magicman]

I have never had one to spray while in a live trap, or under water either.   ;D

[Alcranb]

My dear 80yr. old Mother has a love for squirrels about as much as Ray has for grits. Well she wages war on those poor critters with one of those havahart traps. Occasionally she gets a skunk in her trap. Her remedy is to cover the trap with an old blanket. Now Moms no fool. She walks with one of those 4 prong canes and knows she ain't as fast as she used to be so she's all prepared in advance. She has a blanket with an old piece of clothes line tied to one corner so she doesn't have to get to close. She'll drag that blanket nice 'n slick over the trap. Then she goes to the barn and gets her little JD mower, rides on over and hooks another piece of clothes line that she leaves tied onto the trap onto the back of the tractor. Not far from the house there's a brook. Yep, Mom takes poor old Fifi La Fume for a ride, trap an all. Before Mom drives over the little bridge she unhooks her rope from the tractor and snaps on to another that reaches across the brook clothesline fashion ( Moms been doing this for awhile). Driving across she picks up the tag end and drags the trap in the water just deep enough...... Well you get the picture.
When I stop by my Moms I'll always look for the trap which sets out in the front yard. If the traps not there I'll ask her if she got another squirrel. Her reply inevitably will be yep he's out back getting swimming lessons. Gotta love her!

[POC]

I had a nuisance wildlife business in the past.  Live traps work very well.  Cover with a sheet, blanket, tarp, etc after you catch them, take it slow and quiet.  Skunks can only see about 18", sound and smell are their best senses.  I usually shot mine, or injected acetone into the heart. Drowning is illegal in my state, acetone is too now. If you shoot them, try to NOT shoot in the head, go for a heart shot. Counterintuitive, but a head shot will oft-times result in them spraying from nervous reflex.
Bait- if you use sardines etc. you'll likely catch cats.  Peanut butter on Ritz crackers caught me skunks all the time and no dogs or cats.

[Ernie]

Poston:
I hope you don't get bit by a rabid skunk.

Been there, done that :( :(

Way back in the sixties near Burford Ontario, I tried to catch a dozy skunk, thinking that I would take it to a vet and get it descented as a pet for the neighbour's kids.  What a dumb idea!!! Got bit then sprayed.  For some reason, they wouldn't let me into the hospital and treated me outside.  This was on a the Friday afternoon of a long weekend.  On the Saturday, I got a call from the hospital asking if the skunk was rabid, how was I to know?  Was told to shoot it, cut off it's head and send urgently it in to some government department in Ottawa for testing.  Being a holiday weekend, the testing wasn't done until Tuesday morning.  Then it was all panic stations, The OPP Came charging out, sirens blaring, grabbed me, (now not smelly after a bath in all the tomato juice I could find in the area) and took me to the hospital to wait for the anti rabies shots to arrive by plane and police car. I started my -- I think it was a two week course of intraperitineal injections, there are a few funny stories with the injections too.  I developed a few symptoms, like excessive salivation and a distinct aversion to water but I seem to have survived.

[pappy19]

Do not shoot a skunk in the head or the heart, it will still pith. Shoot it in the back of the spine, that paralizes it and it can't pith. If you leg trap it, make sure you have tied the trap to about an 8-10' pole, then carefully lift it off the ground. With it's feet off the ground, it can't pith, drown it is the best way or shoot it in the back and then the head. Moth balls will keep them away from your problem, they don't like moth balls, but neither do I. Cat food or the sardine tin barely open is also a good lure. Fox urine will keep them away as will bobcat pee. I had many bouts with skunks and learned from a really good old trapper how to get rid of them and keep them gone.

[thecfarm]

Alcranb,I would like to see your Mother in action. very clever.