Sometimes you catch things you Don't Want to Catch. Like Skunks. or Herpes.

[St. Phatty]

I was endeavouring to thin out the rat population that has swelled a bit since I got 2 more chickens. The rat's are eating the chicken food and doing the "exponential growth" thing.

I thought I had LEARNED the lesson about not using too big a trap. 2 years ago I got sprayed, in the knee, maybe by this same skunk. I was trying to catch rats then too. One of those "2 traps for $29" deals.

It's not such a good deal if it catches skunks.

Last time this happened I used a semi-clear plastic sheet to protect me when I picked up the trap to let the critter go. The skunk spray was a dark yellow. It absolutely reminded me of the yellow toner ink that printers come with. That same exact color.

This time, NO SMELL. It did not do ANY spraying. I covered the trap with 3 very wet towels because last time I moved a skunk in a trap, she gave me that little color lesson and it did smell, plus my knee was stinking from the lesson in SMELL & Skunk Stink.

This time, it didn't want to leave the cage, when the towels were on. I didn't want to go anywhere near the mouth of the trap. I was wearing safety glasses and a heavy beat up old coat the whole time. I used a shovel to hold the trap mouth open. It wouldn't move, so I C-clamped the door open.

Once I took the towels off, it slowly ambled off. I had put out some corn and a bit of McDonald's strawberry jam, but it didn't want any of it.

I think it was a she.

I put the trap back out and now it has one rat in it.

 

[Snook]

Freeking rats must be BIG! a rat trap big enough for a skunk?
use your sense of proportion! get smaller 'rat' traps, rat sized or a .22 rifle.

 

[St. Phatty]

Freeking rats must be BIG! a rat trap big enough for a skunk?
use your sense of proportion! get smaller 'rat' traps, rat sized or a .22 rifle.

No the rats are normal size.

I did get a mouse trap for some mice that liked chewing on the hot tub insulation. Didn't work.

The trap in the pic is about 5 inches wide, 6 inches high. I don't think the skunk backed in, which would mean it turned around.

Since the skunk is about 12 inches long, before the tail, I find that pretty impressive.

Urdwana-rasana - the back bend in yoga.

Well, this is Skunk back bend.


I got a .223 (actually, 2, one with a 16 inch barrel and one with a 24 inch) but I have nothing against the wild animals.

 

[stoned-trout]

I once relocated over 30 skunks...using have a heart traps..i swear my dog liked the smell and would chase one everytime he got a chance...my issue was wood piles and grubs ...I used to sneeek up on trap and enclose it in a contractors garbage bag leaving the end a bit open for air,,then into truck from work, sidebox and released by lake...the babies are so cute and I would play with them....never got sprayed from them in traps.....yeehaw...I had a rat issue here once and left them brownies,,next morn there was stoned rats everywhere...used my gamo varmint hunter pellet gun to kill em all as shooting a real gun here in city could get ya killed from police...

 

[Stoner4Life]

used my gamo varmint hunter pellet gun to kill em all as shooting a real gun here in city could get ya killed from police...

who are you trying to kid??? shooting a fake gun will get ya killed too.......

 

[stoned-trout]

ya but you don't get neighbors complaining bout gun shots...but yes if pointed at a cop it would get you shot up quick....yeehaw..its actually heavier and more scary looking than my 22...lol..I love the laser and flashlight for varmint..big sound difference between pellet gun and 22 bullet...except for those mini 22 bullets only used in bolt action..those are about the same sound level..i used to whack ducks with them and a friend downstream would net them up as they floated by..when I lived in pa...never disturbed the neighbors and I didn't have to sit in a cold duck blind...

 

[blastfrompast]

Skunks...the bane of any chicken farmer..

When i still had fowl I used everything from a .22 pellet gun (1 hit to the head) to a 12guage loaded with #4shot on them....

One thing to mention, the shotgun seems to make them auto-squirt, had one dig under some fencing and get into a chicken run once...#4 shot caused it to spray the side of that coop.....

Since i dont have fowl currently they get a free pass and a wide berth now lol

 

[St. Phatty]

Skunks...the bane of any chicken farmer..

I figure this must be because they eat the eggs.

Partially because I have found piles of eggshells in the location where I figured out the chickens are laying, bushes near the house, they have various hiding places.

And - sometimes when I see the skunks, they run for cover - to the same bush where the egg-shell piles are.

But they have co-existed with the various chickens for about 4 years now. This conclusion depends partially on my neighbor's judgment. He found the corpse of one of my chickens and said he thought the fox got it.

But the hens and the skunks occupy similar territories.


So what should I feed the skunks ?

Pot Cookies !

Not sure if chocolate is a good idea.

 

[blastfrompast]

So what should I feed the skunks ?

Pot Cookies !

Not sure if chocolate is a good idea.

Lead?

Honestly if you remove the food source, or make the food source inaccessible they tend to leave. My biggest issue was a neighbor with an old unused barn with FULL feed bins that the mice were having a field day with.... Mice = skunks...

Helped the old lady neighbour get rid of the feed, and made my runs 100% skunk proof and stopped free ranging and it went from a skunk every week to one or 2 a season....

What pissed me off was they will kill a chicken, eat the head, and move on to the next....I caught one in my coop in the beginning doing this....IN THE ACT... it got a .22 pellet to the head

 

[McKush]

^^ well the chicken head is the tastiest part of course! ...to a skunk that is

 

[redlaser]

are your chickens totally free range as in no coop or fencing at all? If so, that's going to be an uphill battle for a while. Even with a coop and decent fence there will be attempts from something. About two hours ago a motion sensor went off here and when I looked there was a single coyote staring at my chicken coop, trying to figure it out. Had to go from 2x4 constructed coop to 4x4's and cattle panels. Around that is a six foot fence, and around that is six strands of electrified fence up to six foot. Netting covers the fenced in area on top of the seven foot posts to keep hawks and owls out. Our chickens will eat broken eggs and really like the shells.

 

[blastfrompast]

Ohh the Coyote...they are worse...u never seem to catch them..

Upside the price of Coyote pelt is actually not to bad..or at least the fur forecast says..

Downside I couldn't give away the colonies of musk rats even if I trapped them and skinned them myself.

 

[igrowone]

Lead?

Honestly if you remove the food source, or make the food source inaccessible they tend to leave. My biggest issue was a neighbor with an old unused barn with FULL feed bins that the mice were having a field day with.... Mice = skunks...

years ago i had a skunk get in my crawl space
was considering what to do, shoot - poison - trap
but it wasn't doing any harm
matter of fact, didn't see a field mouse after he/she had moved in
worked out, a beautiful balance in nature

 

[armedoldhippy]

years ago i had a skunk get in my crawl space
was considering what to do, shoot - poison - trap
but it wasn't doing any harm
matter of fact, didn't see a field mouse after he/she had moved in
worked out, a beautiful balance in nature

skunks are far better than cats at catching mice...

 

[420somewhere]

My dog was skunked five times this year..

My dog was skunked five times this year..

He killed one.

He is tough on rats too.

Great dog but stays outside every once in awhile

 

[MJPassion]

The neighbor feeds their dog a huge amount of food. As a result, they have coyotes coming in for free meals at night.
One morning I awoke to them howling right at my back door. My cat was freaking out not knowing where to go hide.
So I watched a big male and a bitch rolling in a pile of cat shit... I shot a bottle rocket out the cat door and I can guarantee those dogs could catch an antelope on a dead run. They don't like the 7 mag either.

Winter pelts are the softest.

My rat catcher was just born. I can't wait to be cleaning up her messes. :yay:

 

[armedoldhippy]

He killed one.

He is tough on rats too.

Great dog but stays outside every once in awhile

a buddy has a german shepherd that LOVES skunk scent. it will lie on his porch until he sees one, sprints over to it, shakes it like a rat, then sets it down & awaits his "reward"... i don't pet his dog.

 

[420somewhere]

Haha!

Haha!

a buddy has a german shepherd that LOVES skunk scent. it will lie on his porch until he sees one, sprints over to it, shakes it like a rat, then sets it down & awaits his "reward"... i don't pet his dog.

Sounds like a hunter.

 

[St. Phatty]

As long as you don't catch the Herpes FROM the Skunk.

 

[stoned-trout]

sounds like my old dog and he was indeed part shepard...lol..I got a purebred bitch now and she wants to fuck with anything and everything....yeehaw..mean as they come to everything but me....