Posted: 7/12/2009 7:43:08 PM EDT
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Just saw 3 skunks out next to my pool. As I lined up the Mossberg I realized that a couple rounds of 00 buck probably isn't the best way to deal with this. Anyone know how to get rid of skunks without stinking up the house for the next week? Will they spray if you hit 'em in the head with a .22? |
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My dad shot one with a 16 gauge at fairly close range one time. Split him to where he was about 3 times his original length. Guess who got to bury it in the morning?
From my experience, they only 'spray' when they're cornered. And it STINKS! My beagle got hosed pretty good. Funny thing is, he didn't even smell 3 days later. If you get a kill shot in the head, there shouldn't be any spray. If I'm wrong about that, you're on your own! 
ETA: If there were 3, it may be momma and babies. Make sure you get momma first! |
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Quoted: My dad shot one with a 16 gauge at fairly close range one time. Split him to where he was about 3 times his original length. Guess who got to bury it in the morning? From my experience, they only 'spray' when they're cornered. And it STINKS! My beagle got hosed pretty good. Funny thing is, he didn't even smell 3 days later. If you get a kill shot in the head, there shouldn't be any spray. If I'm wrong about that, you're on your own! ETA: If there were 3, it may be momma and babies. Make sure you get momma first! It was definately momma and babies, the small ones were about half the size of the big one. I'm trying to turn this into justification for a new gun. Choices are Beretta, Browning, Ruger, or Sig, plus a can. I'm not holding my breath (ha!), but it might work out. Worst case I'll get a bad ass pellet gun and make a .177 can for it. At the old house, which was in a more rural subdivision, I would have already blown the hell out of 'em and buried the bodies. Here, however, we have neighbors on all sides and wall to wall concrete out back. |
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Quoted: I don't know where you can shoot out your back door in Spring but I'd get a semi auto with that many to deal with. "I was in fear for the safety of my children"  Edit: And now the coon is out there. It's massive, about the size of a small dog. I'm not too concerned with him, he's mostly harmless, but the skunks gotta go. |
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Sonds like you need to move back to the city and leave the farm/ranch life to people who can handle it.
Killing country wiild animals because they Are on your land Is sick. You don't belng or deserve to have property. You don't nderstand it and refus to learn wanting to kill shit because why? It smells? Go back hme city boy 
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Sonds like you need to move back to the city and leave the farm/ranch life to people who can handle it. Killing country wiild animals because they Are on your land Is sick. You don't belng or deserve to have property. You don't nderstand it and refus to learn wanting to kill shit because why? It smells? Go back hme city boy Lighten up Francis...  
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There are those of us who like living in the country. Â We have a lot of
freedom and as a result live a harder life.  Unfortunately while I have land I only get to make it up there once or twice a year.  Each time I am there I find more and more city people who inexplicably have moved to the country just so they can F!!! it up and make is as F!!!ed up as the city. STAY HOME!  A few pet peves of mine are… Don’t shoot shit you are not going to eat.  Got pigs, deer or rabbits in your garden?  How about fencing a garden with either game fence or electric fence? Knowing you will see deer, turtles, coons, possum, wolves, mountain lions, bears, bobcats, snakes and the like.  Leave them the hell alone. Slow down when driving on a gravel or dirt road.  The county won’t fix that pothole within a year so running over it at 60MPH every time you go by just makes it worse, you stir up a ton of dust and you can run over a kid on a bike or run into the back of a tractor, combine or expensive farm implement. I know you want to make money but do it in the city.  Don’t buy up a 12,000 acre ranch and chop it up into little 1.5-10 acre ranchetts.  Again, that gravel road is not meant to support that much traffic, How about this one.  You don’t need a damn 1.5 acre lawn.  The farmer up the road is in a drought and will need to water his corn crop so you mowing once a week and watering your grass to look like a city park is a waste and is screwing him. Stop bitching about there not being a 24 hour walmart or hardware store. They close all day Sunday for church and so the employees can spend time with their families.  Your piss poor planning to fix a toilet or want bon-bons should not require them to stay open all the damn time. My favorite is to turn off your damn external lights.  You might need them for some extremely unlikely event but we don’t need to see your little house lighting up the horizon from 2 miles away. |
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Unfortunately while I have
land I only get to make it up there once or twice a year Nothing worse than a damn city boy buying up the country and then only coming out once or twice a year. What really gets my craw is that there city boy then claims to be country. As to the OP, I trapped the biggest skunk in E. TX last week in a Havahart trap. He's been destroying the wife's garden and he got my dog once. I shot him in the head (from a distance) with the .22. Damn thing emptied his gland. Oh man it was foul. The roofers were gagging. It took about a 1/2 gallon of diesel to burn the smell away. |
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Never said I was country.
I do know there are a lot of "kuntry" songs with electric guitars, drum sets and Jack asses jumping around on stage like David Lee Rotth saying they are kuntry who have no clue. You shot a skunk in a live animal trap? That must have taken a lot of balls. 
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Quoted: Sonds like you need to move back to the city and leave the farm/ranch life to people who can handle it. Killing country wiild animals because they Are on your land Is sick. You don't belng or deserve to have property. You don't nderstand it and refus to learn wanting to kill shit because why? It smells? Go back hme city boy What the fuck is your major malfunction? I don't give a shit what your values are, I don't want my children being bitten or sprayed by a skunk, and I don't live in the country, I live on a 1/4 acre lot in the middle of a subdivision with dozens of kids, cats and dogs around me. Coons, armadillos, cats, etc. can stay. Possums and skunks can't. But I suppose if a gator took up residence in my pool you'd think I should just let him have it? Oh hell no. |
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Quoted: As to the OP, I trapped the biggest skunk in E. TX last week in a Havahart trap. He's been destroying the wife's garden and he got my dog once. I shot him in the head (from a distance) with the .22. Damn thing emptied his gland. Oh man it was foul. The roofers were gagging. It took about a 1/2 gallon of diesel to burn the smell away. Hmm, new plan then. Suppose I could trap 'em, then take them to hk940's place for release. I'm sure he'll give them a good home. |
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Quoted: If you shoot the skunk he will spray. Try to stand up wind when you shoot. Your question got me to wondering about some moist catfood with tylenol in it or maybe some xylitol sweetener? Maybe the skunk will eat the stuff and wander off to drop over elsewhere? Poison isn't an option, unfortunately. Too much chance for collateral damage. One of my cats lives in the jungle that is my back yard, which is why the skunks and coons are hanging around. We've started bringing in her food after she eats, hopefully that'll convince the skunks to move on. |
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Every morning on my way to my car I see "stripe". He /she sees me I make lot so of noise, and it just moves on about it's way. I live in the country, they were here before me. I have no reason to kill it. If it was rabid or a spraying I would. However my wife and I get up early to watch the wildlife from the back porch.
If they are not hurting anything, let them make it. Just know you need to make noise when your out and about in the twilight hours and at night. |
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Sonds like you need to move back to the city and leave the farm/ranch life to people who can handle it. Killing country wiild animals because they Are on your land Is sick. You don't belng or deserve to have property. You don't nderstand it and refus to learn wanting to kill shit because why? It smells? Go back hme city boy I shoot every damn skunk I see. We have a problem with rabid skunks around here. |
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There's a huge difference between shooting a rabid skunk and a momma skunk with babies.
1. Why not just get an axe and bludgeon it to death in front of the neighbors? That way you don't give gun owners another black eye, and your neighbors will still think you are manly. Read this first: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/tv/stories/wfaa090709_lj_slaughter.248572eb.html 2. Predator urine 3. Mothballs 4. Call Animal Control to come remove them. |
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I had this problem a few years ago when they were building houses close to me. All the wildlife was moving from the area they were building in across my property. I had a momma and 2 juviniles hanging in my storage building.
I went and got one of the kids supersoaker squirt guns and mixed 50/50 ammonia and water and hosed momma with it. She was pissed but i was a good 40 feet from them. She didn't spray, just hissed at me from across the yard. When they left the building i sprayed it around the outside and they took off later. The only problem with this is ammonia is a super fertilizer and the grass went crazy where i sprayed it and i had to mow it more often because of it. 
ET: sp |
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Quoted: I had this problem a few years ago when they were building houses close to me. All the wildlife was moving from the area they were building in across my property. I had a momma and 2 juviniles hanging in my storage building. I went and got one of the kids supersoaker squirt guns and mixed 50/50 ammonia and water and hosed momma with it. She was pissed but i was a good 40 feet from them. She didn't spray, just hissed at me from across the yard. When they left the building i sprayed it around the outside and they took off later. The only problem with this is ammonia is a super fertilizer and the grass went crazy where i sprayed it and i had to mow it more often because of it. ET: sp I'll give that a shot. I'm 90% sure they're living under my shed and there's no way to completely seal off around it. The people that built it went nuts and built a 12' square shed in a 13' square area. I can't get to 1 side at all, another side is too tight to be practical. I'll give the ammonia/water a try and seal off what I can with 1/4" hardware cloth. If that doesn't get rid of 'em, .22 to the head. And for those of you that think possums and skunks are cute, cuddly creatures, try having them take over your yard to the point you can't go out back at night for fear they'll jump you. At the old house we had a huge number of very aggressive possums. They attacked dogs much bigger than them and one had to be put to sleep afterwords. I took out half a dozen with the 10/22 before a few red tailed hawks moved in and kept it under control for me. |
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Sonds like you need to move back to the city and leave the farm/ranch life to people who can handle it. Killing country wiild animals because they Are on your land Is sick. You don't belng or deserve to have property. You don't nderstand it and refus to learn wanting to kill shit because why? It smells? Go back hme city boy I shoot every damn skunk I see. We have a problem with rabid skunks around here. I've been told that 99.9% of skunks carry the rabies virus. I too, shoot every damn skunk i see. Swerve on the road to hit em too. |
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There's a huge difference between shooting a rabid skunk and a momma skunk with babies. 1. Why not just get an axe and bludgeon it to death in front of the neighbors? That way you don't give gun owners another black eye, and your neighbors will still think you are manly. Read this first: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/tv/stories/wfaa090709_lj_slaughter.248572eb.html 2. Predator urine 3. Mothballs 4. Call Animal Control to come remove them. Yep. Three for the price of one, as the babies will probably starve to death without momma. Good riddance. Wait, were you AGAINST shooting momma skunk? Would you have teared up if you had been at that camp? I suppose you think possums and skunk are cute and cuddly... |
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There's a huge difference between shooting a rabid skunk and a momma skunk with babies. 1. Why not just get an axe and bludgeon it to death in front of the neighbors? That way you don't give gun owners another black eye, and your neighbors will still think you are manly. Read this first: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/tv/stories/wfaa090709_lj_slaughter.248572eb.html 2. Predator urine 3. Mothballs 4. Call Animal Control to come remove them. Yep. Three for the price of one, as the babies will probably starve to death without momma. Good riddance. Wait, were you AGAINST shooting momma skunk? Would you have teared up if you had been at that camp? I suppose you think possums and skunk are cute and cuddly... Dude, I'm not the one going to war against Pepe' LePew.
Quit leaving garbage and trash around and the possums, raccoons, and skunks will look elsewhere for food. If I had been at that camp I would probablly gone Chuck Norris on the idiot that killed that possum and her babies in front of a bunch of kids. That idiot has all the makings of a future Charles Manson. The rule I was given as a kid (when first handed a gun) was "you kill it, be prepared to eat it". |
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I've killed skunks with one shot to the head but it is not worth the risk since the odds are against you. Assuming you have wife/kids, you'll never hear the end of it if you get yourself or them sprayed. Armadillos are another issue and can destroy an entire yard in one evening. I have zero problem killing rodents/varmints on one's own property.
And, HK 940, just because you have a spot in the country that you visit once in awhile does not give you the right to lecture. |
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Have-A-Heart trap.
When ;you catch one just approach slowly behind a tarp or blanket. They won't spray. Cover the trap with the tarp. They calm down like a caged bird. Then you can move the trap. When I had a skunk in the barn I tied a long piece of wire onto the trap so I could drag the whole package outside after I covered it. I moved it about 20 yards behind the barn, pulled back the tarp far enough that I could open the door so the critter could get out. I waited with a shotgun and made sure it never came back. The guy across the road used the same method to catch 4 that were living under his house and he loaded them in his car and drove them off somewhere and let them go. No spray from any of them. |
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Quoted: Quit leaving garbage and trash around and the possums, raccoons, and skunks will look elsewhere for food. The rule I was given as a kid (when first handed a gun) was "you kill it, be prepared to eat it". Uh, yeah, there's no trash around, but thanks for the suggestion. God help you if a crackhead kicks in your door looking for his next fix. I suspect it'll take a while to finish off that meal. My family has about 450 acres in Montana. I suppose I should leave coyotes, wolves, bears, etc. alone until they attack? |
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Quit leaving garbage and trash around and the possums, raccoons, and skunks will look elsewhere for food. The rule I was given as a kid (when first handed a gun) was "you kill it, be prepared to eat it". Uh, yeah, there's no trash around, but thanks for the suggestion. God help you if a crackhead kicks in your door looking for his next fix. I suspect it'll take a while to finish off that meal. My family has about 450 acres in Montana. I suppose I should leave coyotes, wolves, bears, etc. alone until they attack? It's kinda sad that you live your life in fear of possum, skunk and bear attacks. If a neighbors dog knocks over your trash can do you kill him before he attacks? |
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I've never seen so much hand wringing over a pest. Some of you have obviously never had a skunk family move in. Do you actually know what they eat? Grubs, worms, insects. They're burrowing creatures. Guess what, they like to get under everything, sheds, foundations, driveways. Why do you think the preferred method of getting them out is flooding? There's nothing like getting up at 3am and choking on fresh skunk spray. Rabies, spread of rabies and general property distruction is plenty enough reason to get rid of them. I've never shot one that did not spray, so it's your call. |
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There's a huge difference between shooting a rabid skunk and a momma skunk with babies. 1. Why not just get an axe and bludgeon it to death in front of the neighbors? That way you don't give gun owners another black eye, and your neighbors will still think you are manly. Read this first: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/tv/stories/wfaa090709_lj_slaughter.248572eb.html 2. Predator urine 3. Mothballs 4. Call Animal Control to come remove them. Yep. Three for the price of one, as the babies will probably starve to death without momma. Good riddance. Wait, were you AGAINST shooting momma skunk? Would you have teared up if you had been at that camp? I suppose you think possums and skunk are cute and cuddly... Dude, I'm not the one going to war against Pepe' LePew.
Quit leaving garbage and trash around and the possums, raccoons, and skunks will look elsewhere for food. If I had been at that camp I would probablly gone Chuck Norris on the idiot that killed that possum and her babies in front of a bunch of kids. That idiot has all the makings of a future Charles Manson. The rule I was given as a kid (when first handed a gun) was "you kill it, be prepared to eat it". So, you're prepared to beat the shit out of someone for killing a pest. Do you tear up every time you hit a bug with your windshield? |
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There's a huge difference between shooting a rabid skunk and a momma skunk with babies. 1. Why not just get an axe and bludgeon it to death in front of the neighbors? That way you don't give gun owners another black eye, and your neighbors will still think you are manly. Read this first: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/tv/stories/wfaa090709_lj_slaughter.248572eb.html 2. Predator urine 3. Mothballs 4. Call Animal Control to come remove them. Yep. Three for the price of one, as the babies will probably starve to death without momma. Good riddance. Wait, were you AGAINST shooting momma skunk? Would you have teared up if you had been at that camp? I suppose you think possums and skunk are cute and cuddly... Dude, I'm not the one going to war against Pepe' LePew.
Quit leaving garbage and trash around and the possums, raccoons, and skunks will look elsewhere for food. If I had been at that camp I would probablly gone Chuck Norris on the idiot that killed that possum and her babies in front of a bunch of kids. That idiot has all the makings of a future Charles Manson. The rule I was given as a kid (when first handed a gun) was "you kill it, be prepared to eat it". So, you're prepared to beat the shit out of someone for killing a pest. Do you tear up every time you hit a bug with your windshield? Yep & Nope. There are better ways to eliminate a nuisance possum than beating it to death in front of kids. |
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The rule I was given as a kid (when first handed a gun) was "you kill it, be prepared to eat it". God help you if a crackhead kicks in your door looking for his next fix. I suspect it'll take a while to finish off that meal. Win! Fail. You (& he) know the context was in reference to shooting an animal & responsible gun use. Seeking to justify shooting anything and everything, he invents a crackhead kicking in the door. Crack wasn't even an idea in 1965 and few parents back then worried about an eight year old defending himself. |
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How about a paintball gun? The thing will spray no matter what you hit it with. Fact of life for a skunk. How about the paintballs? You get to have fun and th skunk will find a place to live where no redneck (means me also) won't shoot it with a paintball gun.
Win/win.
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Sonds like you need to move back to the city and leave the farm/ranch life to people who can handle it. Killing country wiild animals because they Are on your land Is sick. You don't belng or deserve to have property. You don't nderstand it and refus to learn wanting to kill shit because why? It smells? Go back hme city boy I shoot every damn skunk I see. We have a problem with rabid skunks around here. I've been told that 99.9% of skunks carry the rabies virus. I too, shoot every damn skunk i see. Swerve on the road to hit em too. You are a little more gungho than me. I hit one with my pickup one night, wasn't trying, and boy did it stink. I'll shoot everyone of them I can, but no" Death Race 2000" for me on skunks.
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Quoted: I nominate we do it at your house. Put out some cat food. Tame them. Keep them as pets in the yard. If anyone climbs the fence to break into you house, the results will be same as a ferocious dog. Just hang out a little sign: "BEWARE OF SKUNK" WIN/WIN  We'll shoot a bear banger into your back yard and see what happens. |
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The rule I was given as a kid (when first handed a gun) was "you kill it, be prepared to eat it". God help you if a crackhead kicks in your door looking for his next fix. I suspect it'll take a while to finish off that meal. Win! Fail. You (& he) know the context was in reference to shooting an animal & responsible gun use. Oh, no . . it was a definite win. You can parse it any way you want, but the reality has always been that some animals get shot and not eaten, including the 2 legged kind. I've never been into killing for the sake of killing, and Soowah seemed reasonable about that but his comments simply weren't good enough for some and they know who they are. Seeking to justify shooting anything and everything, he invents a crackhead kicking in the door. Crack wasn't even an idea in 1965 and few parents back then worried about an eight year old defending himself.
His example showed well the absurdity of your simplistic argument. Runner up was the question about the bug on the windshield. Some people don't use pesticides for fire ants and roaches. Good for them but that's a personal choice and going beyond that doesn't show respect for a brother. |
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I usually use a suppressed Glock to take out Skunks and such. Shotguns do too much damage and usually result in stink. I also shoot opossum, coons, copperheads, water moccasins, dilllos if they are within 100 yards of house or livestock areas. Have never had a problem with coyotes, rabbits, squirrels, bobcat or anything else, so they live. |
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Have-A-Heart trap. When ;you catch one just approach slowly behind a tarp or blanket. They won't spray. Cover the trap with the tarp. They calm down like a caged bird. Then you can move the trap. When I had a skunk in the barn I tied a long piece of wire onto the trap so I could drag the whole package outside after I covered it. I moved it about 20 yards behind the barn, pulled back the tarp far enough that I could open the door so the critter could get out. I waited with a shotgun and made sure it never came back. The guy across the road used the same method to catch 4 that were living under his house and he loaded them in his car and drove them off somewhere and let them go. No spray from any of them. This is the only way to get rid of a skunk without it spraying. But don't drive off and let it go. Most animals, from bears to deer to skunks to snakes will starve to death in an attempt to get back to their home range before resuming normal life, aka eating. No lie, wildlife biologist here. The best way to get rid of it is live trap it, tarp it, and drop it in the pool. Won't spray, and you won't have to juggle a live skunk out to starve to death. |
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Ok, I don't care how horrible of a person anyone thinks I am, these damned things have got to go. I was just sitting in the hot tub contemplating the universe when my guard cat suddenly perked up from her usual unconsciousness, then hissed into the darkness. I leaned over the edge of the pool to see past the glare from the light and wound up face to face (well, ok, about 2 feet away) from one of the babies. Great. Now there's a baby skunk between me and the switch for the hot tub heater. It eventually moved on to the point that I could get past, but I never saw the other two who couldn't have been far away. I was having visions of momma pouncing on my feet as I walked past the shed to turn off the pump and heater. I'm going to go fetch some traps tomorrow and when I catch 'em they're going across Spring Creek (possibly in Spring Creek). It might be illegal to run people out of the county, but I didn't see skunks mentioned in the state constitution ;) |
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I nominate we do it at your house. Put out some cat food. Tame them. Keep them as pets in the yard. If anyone climbs the fence to break into you house, the results will be same as a ferocious dog. Just hang out a little sign: "BEWARE OF SKUNK" WIN/WIN
I was thinking we'd name one Flower and the other one Pepe, and tie some pink and blue ribbons around their necks. Can you imagine anything more frightening than a couple of gay skunks? |
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Have-A-Heart trap. When ;you catch one just approach slowly behind a tarp or blanket. They won't spray. Cover the trap with the tarp. They calm down like a caged bird. Then you can move the trap. When I had a skunk in the barn I tied a long piece of wire onto the trap so I could drag the whole package outside after I covered it. I moved it about 20 yards behind the barn, pulled back the tarp far enough that I could open the door so the critter could get out. I waited with a shotgun and made sure it never came back. The guy across the road used the same method to catch 4 that were living under his house and he loaded them in his car and drove them off somewhere and let them go. No spray from any of them. This is the only way to get rid of a skunk without it spraying. But don't drive off and let it go. Most animals, from bears to deer to skunks to snakes will starve to death in an attempt to get back to their home range before resuming normal life, aka eating. No lie, wildlife biologist here. The best way to get rid of it is live trap it, tarp it, and drop it in the pool. Won't spray, and you won't have to juggle a live skunk out to starve to death. I didn't know that. I took it far enough away from the barn it didn't matter if it sprayed took care of it with a shotgun. |
Used to live in a pecan orchard. Guess what? Did some research....skunks love fruit and nut orchards. They loved to live under house..... 
Mothballs did NOT work. The predator urine did NOT work, at least not in the granular form. Caught a skunk once. At the first shot of .22, he jumped spun and sprayed over 20 feet. You could see that nasty yellow, mucus-looking stuff fly thru the air. Here's the thing about shooting skunks. The have lots of loose wavy hair. So you may think you will hit them, but your rounds can/will pass right thru their fluffy hair. This thoroughly pisses them off. Skunk activity is much worse in Feb and March....breeding season. Just wait til you have a cat and a skunk go a couple rounds under your house. 
If they aren't caged, it's 00 Buck to make sure I get a hit. Something smaller if caged so as not to damage the cage. |
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Used to live in a pecan orchard. Guess what? Did some research....skunks love fruit and nut orchards. They loved to live under house.....
Mothballs did NOT work. The predator urine did NOT work, at least not in the granular form. Caught a skunk once. At the first shot of .22, he jumped spun and sprayed over 20 feet. You could see that nasty yellow, mucus-looking stuff fly thru the air. Here's the thing about shooting skunks. The have lots of loose wavy hair. So you may think you will hit them, but your rounds can/will pass right thru their fluffy hair. This thoroughly pisses them off. Skunk activity is much worse in Feb and March....breeding season. Just wait til you have a cat and a skunk go a couple rounds under your house.
If they aren't caged, it's 00 Buck to make sure I get a hit. Something smaller if caged so as not to damage the cage. My Dad used #7 or #7.5 shot (dove load) at 3 ft. No spray. Dead skunk. However, it was messy!
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