Buddy lives in town. Has skunks around the house a lot. He's wondering whats the best way to git rid of them.

I have some conibears I offered to loan for the project. But, neither of us know what to bait the trigger with.

OR IF they'll soak the area with scent when the trap grab's e'm around the shoulders, or neck.

Any info would be appreciated.


Update on the cat trapping I was going to do a couple months ago.

Two holes they were going thru several times a day & night.
Set a conibear in front of both holes. Never had one go thru again. They act like they know a trap. Even put some meat scraps just inside the floor where they'd have to go thru to get to it. Never touched it. Yet I still have cat tracks walking by the door, they don't even slow down near the holes anymore.

Basically that was the goal. Keep 'em out of my shop. But, was sure expecting to grab a few of them. I guess after me shooting five of them they've got the message to stay away. Seldom see them around anymore.
Thanks,
George

In town the safest and least smelly way to trap skunks is with an appropriately sized live trap. They cannot get their tails up and spray once they are in them. Then take the cage and drop it in a pond or a water tank and drown the skunk.

Skunk bait ? something like sardines.

I second the box trap. Don't even wanna think about taking one out of a large conibear. A small one that I can just squeeze a single spring and it will drop out may be OK. My guess is it will release the scent in its death throes and it will be on everything.

I never had one release in a leghold trap and I am always able to slowly walk right up to them. You shoot them and they generally release when they tense up as they are dying.

I've caught enough of them in large havahart traps, the raccoon size, I think it is 10x10x36. Never had a problem, skunks are very docile if not threatened. Approach the trap from the end and gently place something over the trap. Then you'll be able to move it anywhere. Roll the trap upside down so the doors open and it will just walk away.

Should be able to catch them with almost any kind of bait, chicken bones, dog food, cat food, bacon scraps, any kind of kitchen leftovers.

Hmmm, sounds great. I'll pass the info to Mike.

Appreciate it.

Only a few times I've been involved with them other than on the hwy.

Dog ran over one in the winter laying next to the front door keeping warm. Got us both and the front porch too.

Other time I set some big enough box traps for bobcats and the brother in laws checked it the day a skunk was in it. We all caught hell from the MIL. ha ha!

Did catch four bobcats too.

One on a freezer burned caribou roast. This is in CO.

Anyway, thank you much for the advice.

George

Ok, here's my 2c on scentless skunk trapping.

Conibears: I've never had a skunk killed in a conibear spray. The trick with skunks and conibears is matching the right size trap to skunks. 110's kill small skunks perfectly. But the 110's are too small to get the larger ones to go thru. With 220's, all skunks will attempt to go thru. But it's problematic if the 220 will pinch close enough to kill your critter. If it's still alive, it's very hard to kill without it throwing it's scent.

Leghold: The trick to killing foot trapped skunks is to shoot them with a low powered .22 (short or CB cap) thru the lungs while remaining far enough away from the skunk that he knows you are not in range for his spray. He will get agitated at the shot....you back away immediately. Go away. Come back in 10 minutes to collected your unsprayed catch.

ok, thanks Badgerr

If you can leave them lay long enough so the stiffen up real good,the scent will be less likely to "spill" when you handle them. I caught 6 last trapping season, I would shoot them in the morning and remove them in the afternoon, never a problem.

Skunks like cottage cheese,a friend used it to trap skunks in AZ.Hav-a-hart trap and a canvas tarp to cover the trap then either take it to your vehicle or back it up to the trap,wrap the tarp around the tailpipe and start the motor the carbon monoxide will kill.

I just trapped another skunk last night since it sprayed my neighbors dog. I used a box trap baited with peanut butter on a peace of bread. set the trap at dark and close it at daylight so you don't catch a squirrel.

Most skunks are calm if ou treat them so , if they arelooking at you you are fine. I put a blanket over the cage to keep them calm and drive them to a save place to release. If they are aggressive be careful since they carry all types of deases. and a pellet gun might cure the aggresive ones

On our last day of archery hunting I made a big pot of spaghetti. While we were eating, a skunk came under the table. When we were done, there was a huge pile left so I put it on a paper plate and led the skunk off a little way. Darn critter ate the whole thing and looked like a barrel with legs. I told my friend that it was good we were leaving because the whole family would be to dinner the next night. I hate cooking for a crowd.

quote:

Originally posted by bfrshooter:
On our last day of archery hunting I made a big pot of spaghetti. While we were eating, a skunk came under the table. When we were done, there was a huge pile left so I put it on a paper plate and led the skunk off a little way. Darn critter ate the whole thing and looked like a barrel with legs. I told my friend that it was good we were leaving because the whole family would be to dinner the next night. I hate cooking for a crowd.

LOL, i bet that was a sight, you leading the skunk off with a plate of spaghetti! Must have been some good stuff.

Plinker

Bolognese or Carbonara?

What you want to do is get a pole with a syringe on it. Trap the skunks with a leghold trap. Approach very very carefully and give them a shot of sodium p. or anyting else that will work. Then, take the skunk out of the trap and use a razor blade to cut around the anus until you get next to the glands. Cut them out with the razor blade. Don't try it with a dull knife because you will push to hard and cause essence to come out. Once you get them cut out you take another syringe and extract all of the essence and put it in a bottle. Keep doing this. Keep the bottle out of the sun in a cool dark place. Make sure and use a glass bottle with a good lid. That stuff sells for about $20-30 an ounce. YOu can also get a few bucks for the hide if you want to peel them and flesh them. Make sure and wear gloves when working with skunks.

If you have one that stinks bad, dunk the whole skunk in white gas or coleman fuel. Stink will be gone.

You don't need to cut them out just stick a LARGE syringe in to them and suck it out, you can do it on road kill skunks tooI. Use acetone on the kill pole and inject it into the lungs, they just tip over.

Wow, thought this thread died months ago.

Guess once a fair question is asked it keeps drawing advisors.

Thank you folks, do appreciate it. Mikes decided to leave them alone for some reason. Saw one in the front yard last night in fact.

We have them around the neighborhood too, but, only seen two in 33 yrs now. One was keeping warm on my front door threshold til the dog ran over it and we both got 'Fixed".
I was too close to smell it, but, something sure burned my eye's. Wife said "skunk", then I went to looking and found it hiding behind the snow shovel and told it to get out of here and I wouldn't hurt it. Then came in the house and smelled the dog hiding under the bed! OH Damn!

George