Skunk problem - HELP!

CrossTimbers1 · #1 07/02/15, 10:09 PM

Hi guys! We need advice. We have a skunk that is hanging around our barn every night it seems. The critter leaves sign when it's digging for grub worms all around the barnyard and our house yard, scat and we have smelled him on more than one occasion in the middle of the night. We now have 3 week old chicks in the brooder at the barn and a new 3 week old kitten in the barn. The kitten is designated as our "mouser" for the barn. This skunk seems to be a nightly visitor and it's got to go! I've given consideration to going out at night with a flashlight and my 22 rifle and eliminating the problem, but I've read even with a brain shot the varmit will still spray. I'd like to get rid of this unwanted visitor before it gets our new chicks and digs our yard completely up. How do we get rid of this problem without our farm smelling terrible for a full week? All advice welcome!

Harry Chickpea · #2 07/03/15, 12:15 AM

Supposedly...
Live trap with a blanket rigged up overhead.
Skunk is trapped.
Blanket is dropped over the trap.
Trap is dunked in water to drown skunk.

The idea is that it won't spray if it can't see an attacker and is in an enclosed space.

Reality? Your farm may smell terrible for a week. Better than it smelling like that through the skunk having babies.

Old Vet · #3 07/03/15, 12:24 AM

I used to hunt them for a microbiologist. What we did was to hit them with a baseball bat from the front. I know this is cruel but it works. He was studding them for rabies.

snowlady · #4 07/03/15, 07:11 AM

We keep ours fat and happy. They come around to eat the cat food and never spray.

Kasidy · #5 07/03/15, 07:22 AM

DO NOT shoot it!!! 40 years ago my FIL shot a skunk in the barnyard and it reeked all summer. Of course he didn't care because his house was 500 feet away on the upwind side of the barn. Our house was less than 100 feet away on the downwind side!

I have known a couple of people who have had luck with the humane trap idea.

MichaelZ · #6 07/03/15, 08:07 AM

If you had a way to insure your pets (or neighbors) would not get the poison, mixing some rat poison and gravy works. The skunk will gobble it up and die.

whiterock · #7 07/03/15, 09:38 AM

I've always used a shotgun from about 50 ft away and used a broadside or head on shot. Used a .22 once and that made a stink. A few shovels of dirt over the scene eliminated the smell pretty quickly.

DD had some in town, got traps from the city to catch them, and one of the city workers removed them. I really like that boy!!

Jennifer L. · #8 07/03/15, 02:44 PM

Hava-Hart trap baited with marshmallows. Works great. When you have one trapped, have a blanket handy and wait until daytime when the skunk is sleepy, and drop the blanket on the cage. I got one the other day and carried the trap out of the barn with no blanket without a problem, but when the dogs saw me set the trap down they had to stick their noses in and that was too much for the skunk and it sprayed. Young one, though, and not a huge spray so it wasn't too bad.

A glug of hydrogen peroxide in a couple of quarts of water will remove skunk smell from dogs and things. Just take a soaked washcloth and give the dogs a scrub with it. Mine hate it, but they know when they get sprayed that that will happen.

1948CaseVAI · #9 07/03/15, 03:41 PM

I have shot a number of skunks and not one has sprayed. But even if it does spray, as long as it is outdoors it will not be too bad, and it will dissipate quickly. Don't over-think this, just kill it.

fishhead · #10 07/03/15, 06:34 PM

If you shoot at the base of the skull where the spine is attached it paralyzes the muscles and it cannot spray.

You can also throw a tarp over the trap when you set it. Then when you make a catch pull the tarp over the ends and run a flex hose from your vehicle exhaust to the cage and let it idle for 15 minutes or so.

Jlynnp · #11 07/03/15, 06:39 PM

Live trap, cover it with a blanket and drop them in the stock tank. Last time DH shot one it sprayed and the place stunk for a week.

CrossTimbers1 · #12 07/03/15, 09:54 PM

Thanks everyone!
Has anyone used one of the tube-looking skunk traps? My trapping supplies catalog advertises a dedicated skunk trap that looks like a tube or pipe with a guillotine type trap door. The ad says the trap is sized so the skunk cant raise its tail or hunch up its back to spray, and cannot see out. If the skunk cant see out, my question is how does a person know if the critter in the trap is a skunk or something else?
Anyone used one of these traps?
Thanks in advance.

DW · #13 07/04/15, 06:59 AM

We used a trap and we also had a skunk that wanted under an old shed. We threw a box or two of moth balls under the shed and he left!

Cornhusker · #14 07/04/15, 08:58 AM

I've shot dozens, and only one of them smelled because I shot it in the sack.
Shoot them in the head and you should be ok.

fishhead · #15 07/04/15, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrossTimbers1

Thanks everyone!
Has anyone used one of the tube-looking skunk traps? My trapping supplies catalog advertises a dedicated skunk trap that looks like a tube or pipe with a guillotine type trap door. The ad says the trap is sized so the skunk cant raise its tail or hunch up its back to spray, and cannot see out. If the skunk cant see out, my question is how does a person know if the critter in the trap is a skunk or something else?
Anyone used one of these traps?
Thanks in advance.

I've read they work really well. You should be able to see enough of the animal to know if it's a skunk or not. Even just a patch of fur will tell you.

Forcast · #16 07/05/15, 12:39 PM

I read someplace that eggs mixed with Tylenol 3-4 extra strength will kill cats and skunks.

Wyobuckaroo · #17 07/05/15, 02:35 PM

I agree with the live trap baited with marshmallows... Cover trap... Float test trap and animal.... I have never had a skunk be able to float the trap from the inside successfully... This has been my best method of dealing with this kind of predator for minimum smell problems....

If you have a large enough population of skunks to manage.. It may be worth it to spend the little extra money for a dedicated skunk live trap... You surely will be able to rent or loan it for future favors to make it worth the cost...

As said... Removing the unwanted animals is just one part of the deal... The other is keeping them away.. Dryer sheets, moth balls, rags soaked in Pine Sol, or other home remedies..... You should be able to Google search much good info on keeping them away...

Good luck..

fishhead · #18 07/06/15, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Forcast

I read someplace that eggs mixed with Tylenol 3-4 extra strength will kill cats and skunks.

Poison is very indescriminate. At least with live traps you can identify your target before killing. It's also more humane too.

The rental center in this town rents live traps. You can always put the trap in a cardboard box so after a catch you just walk up from behind and close the box for transport.

**GREENCOUNTYPETE** · #19 07/06/15, 09:58 AM

skunk whisperer

talk in a soothing tone then slide the big needle filled with acetone into the lung and dispense