Skunk gaaaaaaaaahhh

TransAm1991

TransAm1991

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Location
Windsor, Ontario
So, came home for lunch today..
Been noticing lately that the tomatoes in the garden have been getting half eaten in the last few weeks, some have actually been pulled off the plant, and moved to weird spots in the driveway..
I've also been smelling skunk spray early in the morning when I leave for work..

So, now that I've trailed off, I'll get back to the question..
Can I kill the bast#rd?
I have a small game license, and I live in Area 95 of your Ontario hunting guide.
I have to abide by the 150M from buildings, and road (We're pushed waaaay back from the road to begin with)
But, the bylaws for my area say I can use no caliber larger than a .22 LR, and a 12 gauge shotgun, so no killing the skunk with my 45/70..

And last but not least, what's a good time to go after him? I want to be atleast.. 50 yards.. away.

I'll be using my Henry .22 frontier model.. with skinner peep sight.

I really don't want to set a trap, so that's out of the question, that could be nasty.
 
TransAm1991 said:
So, came home for lunch today..
Been noticing lately that the tomatoes in the garden have been getting half eaten in the last few weeks, some have actually been pulled off the plant, and moved to weird spots in the driveway..
I've also been smelling skunk spray early in the morning when I leave for work..

So, now that I've trailed off, I'll get back to the question..
Can I kill the bast#rd?
I have a small game license, and I live in Area 95 of your Ontario hunting guide.
I have to abide by the 150M from buildings, and road (We're pushed waaaay back from the road to begin with)
But, the bylaws for my area say I can use no caliber larger than a .22 LR, and a 12 gauge shotgun, so no killing the skunk with my 45/70..

And last but not least, what's a good time to go after him? I want to be atleast.. 50 yards.. away.

I'll be using my Henry .22 frontier model.. with skinner peep sight.

I really don't want to set a trap, so that's out of the question, that could be nasty.
Click to expand...



There is no season on skunks, open all year in Ontario. Hunt under the authority of your small game lic.

Although a trap is a better idea. trap it and then put the trap in a garbage can full of water. They won't spray when confined. This is the least messy way to deal with it.

If you shoot it, it WILL stink. bad. unless you get a really good head shot.
 
Canadian_Zuk said:
There is no season on skunks, open all year in Ontario. Hunt under the authority of your small game lic.
Click to expand...

Not that this applies down south for you guys, but for us up north we have to remember that although the season is open, your small game tag is not valid right now....

From the OMNR website

Note that a small game licence is not valid in northern Ontario and parts of central Ontario (as shown on Map 2, pages 8-9) from June 16 to August 31.
Click to expand...
 
Canadian_Zuk said:
There is no season on skunks, open all year in Ontario. Hunt under the authority of your small game lic.

Although a trap is a better idea. trap it and then put the trap in a garbage can full of water. They won't spray when confined. This is the least messy way to deal with it.

If you shoot it, it WILL stink. bad. unless you get a really good head shot.
Click to expand...

So in the trap, theoretically it won't spray?
I'd hate to test that theory, but it's worth a shot.
What should I bait with, it seems to like tomatoes and whatever is in the dumpster behind the shop.
 
We had a skunk problem on our block last year, most of the guys decided that bb guns where the answer, it didn't work to well (as we are in city limits and discharge of a firearms is prohib'd for .22lr) the way they bypassed it was a crossbow.

although i had nothing to do with it, as i was well informed of what happened when i return to town.
 
TransAm1991 said:
So in the trap, theoretically it won't spray?
I'd hate to test that theory, but it's worth a shot.
Click to expand...

Rumour has it that as long as the live trap is sized so that the skunk can't lift its tail, it can't spray.

I lived in a cabin where a skunk was trapped underneath using a conibear hoping that the kill would be quick enough that the skunk wouldn't spray.

The smell in the cabin was evidence that it didn't work.
 
Just wrap an old tarp around the trap leaving the mechanical part open of course. They can still spray but the tarp will contain it and prevent you from getting sprayed.
 
i catch them for friends from time to time. use a havaheart brand live trap (got mine at canadian tire about 5 years ago) or similiar. wrap the trap in a blanket and put it out baited with a small can of catfood, fish oil, or anise. wrapped in a blanket seems to keep them very calm and relaxed.

once you have it, be quiet and dont turn it into a circus of friends and neighbors comming to see, just submerge the trap in a barrel of water, or put him in the back of a truck and drive to a river somewhere. make sure its a skunk in the trap, and not a cat/dog or other non target animal. if you drive with the trap, make sure its secured in the back of the truck so he isnt sliding back and forth. ive never had one go off using this technique.

shooting skunks is never 100% on them not spraying.
 
Get a closed in skunk trap (not an open wire one) use a sardine as bait you will catch the skunk and it wont spray in the closed in trap.As someone suggested very simple to drop the trap in a full rain barrel for about ten minutes. Shooting them in the head,arse, or any where else will not stop them from spraying.
If you decide to shoot it keep in mind they are very hard to get out of the trap you can open the door and they still wont come out usually a ten minute wait or more and even then you might have to tip the trap on end.Just make sure the wind is at your back and the skunk is in front of you.Good luck.
 
Is it necessary to kill it? If you are going to go to the trouble of live trapping it then driving it off somewhere away from the house, why not just let it go? Granted the thing may be a nuisance, but once taken a few miles away it's no longer your problem...
 
I would double check your regs I believe a skunk is considered a Fur-bearer, I have trapped a few for work. If you go the live trap route just throw it in a rain barrel that is the only way of 100% guaranteeing it won't spray.

I would trap the skunk and take it for a ride, once they are in a covered trap they tend to fall asleep, prop the door open with a stick and walk away.

P.s. it is probably Raccoons eating your tomatoes.
 
Joe549 said:
Is it necessary to kill it? If you are going to go to the trouble of live trapping it then driving it off somewhere away from the house, why not just let it go? Granted the thing may be a nuisance, but once taken a few miles away it's no longer your problem...
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Not necessary at all, I just couldn't imagine catching one in a cage.
Although, with the barn cats running around, they cleaned out my last few traps, buggers...

Had a bunch of feral cats running around, they're too smart for cages.. Coyotes probably ate them, people love dumping them off, we're close enough to the city where they don't have to drive too far....
 
I have personally live trapped (with an "open mesh" coon trap) 13 skunks from under my sisters house last year. Buggers dug behind a shrub, under the footings andthen up into her crawl space, then started "nesting" in there.

Each time, I walked slowly up to the trap with an old bed sheet, placed it over the trap, then lifted the trap gently, put it in the bed of my pick-up truck, at "relocation point" I picked the trap up, opened the door, removed blanket and if needed gave the trap a few nudges to let the thing know it was time to leave.

Never got sprayed once. They will posture and threaten to spray on occasion though when you first approach the trap. During release, they all jus high-tailed it for the nearest cover and didn't threaten me at all.

Most important thing is to not stop talking - in a calm low voice - doesn't matter what you say, just say it "nicely" and keep the conversation going as long as you are near the skunk.

This was what an old trapper told me to do, said he uses the "talking method" to remove skunks from his coyote leghold traps - if he shot them or whatever, they trap would be ruined and need cleaning, etc.. and by talking, he could release the skunk right then and there and let it be on it's way and re-use the trap right away - and it worked fine for me.

Dropping the live trap in a water barrel, pond, etc.. will work the best if you want them dead instead of gone. Give them about 20 minutes under water and you are good to go.

As for Bait for skunks in a live trap ... they are irresistably drawn to Marshmellows. The big fluffly white ones ... put a coupel of them in the center of the "trapped" end of the cage, then use a couple tent pegs, etc.. (I used a couple long 1/4 steel rods that I put through the corners on an angle) to fix the trap to the ground (otherwise they'll just roll it over to get at the marshmellows). I was catching up to 3 a night with this method.
 
Joe549 said:
Is it necessary to kill it? If you are going to go to the trouble of live trapping it then driving it off somewhere away from the house, why not just let it go? Granted the thing may be a nuisance, but once taken a few miles away it's no longer your problem...
Click to expand...

Not sure about your area, but here in York Region (northern GTA) a problem animal may be trapped at any time - but it must either be humanely put down immediately, or released within 1 Km of where it was trapped.

A skunk, coon etc.. will be back within a night if you only take it 1000 paces away.

Luckily for me, I was dropping mine off about 50 yards from a provincial park and on the other side of a river form where they were being trapped... lots of goodies and treats for them to be distracted by ... and a great novelty for all the tourists to deal with :D
 
As for Bait for skunks in a live trap ... they are irresistably drawn to Marshmellows. The big fluffly white ones ... put a coupel of them in the center of the "trapped" end of the cage, then use a couple tent pegs, etc.. (I used a couple long 1/4 steel rods that I put through the corners on an angle) to fix the trap to the ground (otherwise they'll just roll it over to get at the marshmellows). I was catching up to 3 a night with this method.
Click to expand...

I'm trying the marshmellows, I had the smaller ones, so I put a hand full in the trap, and sprinkled some infront of the door.

I also covered the cage with a black garbage bag, and stuck a large rock on top, we'll see what happens over night...
 
We've trapped many skunks at the farm with a live trap made of plywood. ( about 8" square and 24" long using sardines as bait). They have never sprayed in the box. We haul them out well away from the house if we are going to shoot them if not we put the whole trap in a big plastic bag and give a good spray of ether in the bag then tie the end. He's dead in an hour or less.


Warning. Do not be smoking or have any flame near by or he'll be dead in a second.:D
 
Skunks have to raise their tail to spray- thats how they are built. If they die in the open air the scent gland muscle relaxes and they 'leak'..... sometimes a bit.... sometimes a lot! Thats why most guys prefer drowning so the scent it mitigated by the water. I'm not a big fan of the suffering associated with drowning so usually suck it up, shoot them, clean up the skunk then clean up myself. Leftover stink is a good conversation starter at work the next day. :p
 
So.. Update.

Set the trap.
Dropped a can of tuna in, the marshmellows didn't smell enough.

So far, I caught our barn cat, stripey.. Man was she mad...

Girlfriend just left, and call to tell me a skunk just crossed the street at my neighbours house headed this way..
Could be an eventful morning!

R:d:
 
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