removing skunks

[wtiger]

Yeah I just leave skunks alone unless they are really a nuisance.  They breed prolifically so I wouldn't be terrible worried about disposing of them permanently if they are a nuisance.  I 22 round to the belly will keep them from spraying and one to the head or heart will finish them off quickly.  Drowning them seems like a really cruel way to kill them.

[Brian D. Bray]

The problem I have is that getting rid of one skunk isn't enough.  There is always a family of them.  I just went to top entrances and my skunk problems dissapeared and I didn't have to fight the skunks anymore...

http://www.bushfarms.com/beeslazy.htm#topentrance

That's one of the problems with most wild animals, when they find a food source they stay with it as long as it lasts.  Going to top entrances proved better than putting 1/4-1/2 inch screens over the entrances.  The screens can be torn off by some preditors but top entrance doesn't even attract their attention.

[johnnybigfish]

  I agree with you wtiger. Drowning seems cruel to me too. And, as mentioned earlier, skunks were here first. I havent had them in my hives(yet) but my dogs are after them every now and then, and yes, you bet they get sprayed! My dogs(all 5 of them) sleep inside. When they get sprayed they sleep outside. A good aim from a skunk can make me GAG, but usually its not that strong to make me go "A killin'"
 Brian and I have talked about the animals before. Brian and I have racing pigeons. I have hawks getting into my pigeon coop and having a feast! I get crows eating my dogfood. They're coyotes  making my dogs bark. Now, I keep my pigeons in more..I feed the crows more dog food...And I yell at the dogs to "Shut up!"
 I shot a hawk twice in the coop...I shot a bobcat once in the coop.
What a WASTE on my part! Theres not much area left for these animals anymore since this town got bigger.
 THEN theres the HUNTERS(from their back porches) They will shoot ANYTHING that crosses their land!! AND they ARENT doing it to protect their livestock either.They have no livestock. They do it to see blood and to be able to kill something.
Ok,...Let me get off this soap box before I start in on the@#$%^
who hang the coyotes on the fences.

Oh, by the way...I did'nt think like this 30 years ago..But I wish I had.
your friend,
john

[Bennettoid]

  Ok,...Let me get off this soap box before I start in on the@#$%^
who hang the coyotes on the fences.

But you have to hang coyotes on fences! Its a warning to all the other Coyotes!!

[danno]

my comments about what has been written

1 Catch and release in illegal in most states. Most states will let you protect your property but dont send it to you neighbors plus this is how desease is spread

2Tomatoe juice works because it is high in acid. Try plain white vinigar or better yet Shampoo made from baking soda, peroxide and dishsoap you'll be much happier with the results

3 Skunk were here first.  Whenwas this? When adam and eve came around or when monkeies started to walk upright.  Just because at some time in history people desided to move to cities doesnt mean they were here first  We are all animals and we pick a place of our own and defend it weather it be our house or a hole dug under someones house.  Wild animals dont live together in harmony A coon will kill another coon that desides it wants to live in your attic to.

4there is alway more than one   This can be true 2 times of the year.  In winter when one male can live with many females which answers another statement made here " skunks sprayed under my house in the middle of winter"  In Feb is the breeding season and one male living with as many as 25 females will mate them and loose control while doing it.  The other time of the year is late spring/early summer when a female can emerge from a den with as many as 10 babies

5Skunks eat grubs  Yes very true but they are omnivorous and when the grubs are all gone they can and will find something else.

6 "They breed prolifically"   Rodents breed prolifically haveing litters every couple of months year round and newborns being sexualy mature in just a couple of months.  Skunks have one litter a year.

7  " they are great for pest control" This I do agree with.  I have had skunks liveing under my chicken coop and I dont bother them because they eat any baby mice that happen to take up resident under there.  I also see were they have been grubbing in my gardens.  I have no dogs anymore so they are welcome to live there.  I just cough, talk or clear my throat before I get to close in the dark so they can run and hide.     

[wtiger]

6 "They breed prolifically"   Rodents breed prolifically haveing litters every couple of months year round and newborns being sexualy mature in just a couple of months.  Skunks have one litter a year.   

I would say 5-10 new baby skunks per female a year is fairly prolific.  Especially for an animal that has so few natural predators.  I'm not saying go kill as many as you can, but I haven't felt bad the one or two times I've shot a skunk that was causing a problem.  There are plenty more where it came from.  Generally they're not a nuisance. though and a little prevention can eliminate most potential problems.  It's one of the reasons I have my hives on a stand.

[danno]

wtiger I seldom kill a skunk. When I started this post all I was aiming for was giving people a trap and information on safely taking care of an animal that so many are so afraid of.  I myself love these little gental animals.  10 years ago I had a Jack Russel kennel and I trapped and shot them all for obvious reasons.  Now with no dogs they are welcome.  I do alot of coyote and fox trapping and catch many skunks in doing so and these cant be released.  My DNR ADC lic allows me to catch, transport, kill or release Michigan wildlife.  I let all skunks and most other animals go.

[Bennettoid]

I don't think any of us who consider ourselves outdoorsman ever take an animals life lightly. Wildlife is one of the reasons I live where I do, I love seeing the fox kits playing in the pasture, and watching the fawns follow their Mom along the edge of the woods, but I still take a couple of deer a year for the freezer, and there are times when a quick dispatch of a nuisance animal is required.

[taipantoo]

[/quote]

That's one of the problems with most wild animals, when they find a food source they stay with it as long as it lasts.  Going to top entrances proved better than putting 1/4-1/2 inch screens over the entrances.  The screens can be torn off by some preditors but top entrance doesn't even attract their attention.
[/quote]

You need to make a tube out of the screen so that the skunk will have to stretch over it exposing its' belly, then the bees can sting it in a sensitive spot.

[taipantoo]

I don't think any of us who consider ourselves outdoorsman ever take an animals life lightly. Wildlife is one of the reasons I live where I do, I love seeing the fox kits playing in the pasture, and watching the fawns follow their Mom along the edge of the woods, but I still take a couple of deer a year for the freezer, and there are times when a quick dispatch of a nuisance animal is required.

I have a lot of nuisance squirrels.
They are all in my freezer waiting for a good recipe.