When I was a kid I trapped this fella. I was in school and my brother came and got me out of school to deal with this fella. Back then a badger was protected in my area and even though I was a bit of a rebel, I used common sense when it came to conservation. When I showed up we took a few photos. How the heck was I going to let him go, could have been a she too. Back to the house we went, I grabbed a 30 gallon galvanized tub. went back and flopped the tub over the badger. Pulled his leg out, shook paws and let him go, then ran like, you know fast as I could. Later on I went back to get the tub.
Well I'm not sure why you would want to catch him in the first place, unless maybe it was accident. Traps do not discriminate. Glad you let him go. I'm sure he was none to happy.
I have foot traps for raccoons.....baited with a marshmallow. I am very concerned I will catch a skunk in them. If so I will have to put them down from afar....very very afar. I will not be going up close to let a skunk out of a foot trap...no way. Watcherchris Not an Ishmaelite.
I had a classmate who had traps set for rabbits. He was checking on his traps on the way to school, and found he had caught a skunk. Got sprayed, and continued to come in to school. We all got to go home that day. Not sure how long it took to get the smell out of the school.
They are really that strong? I only remember the smell when I saw them ran over on the road. Kind of "old ape" smell. Cannot imagine how it is live...
Yea, it was a incidental catch. I have no problem letting anything go. But I usually use a box trap when dealing with pests. Then I relocate them out into the forest, skunks included. I will not harvest a animal that is not in prime. The badger was caught in a dirt hole set intended for coyotes.
normally I catch skunks in a box trap. Then I put a dark blanket over the trap and carefully carry the trap and set it in the back of my pick up. Then carefully set the trap down on the ground, pull the blanket back from the door end and pull up the door and slowly back away or maybe fast just depends. If I catch a skunk in a foot hold all bets are off.
Is it true that if a skunk is in a small enough box trap and can't raise its tail it can't spray very well? I've heard this repeated often enough that I wonder if it is a myth or...? I also heard that if you walk very slowly with a tarp or blanket in front of you towards a skunk in a box/cage trap, it will not (usually) spray because it can't see you... I have not had the opportunity to test this yet. I hope it works because it is just a matter of time now, lol. .
they can spray but best to approach them from the front, slowly and quietly with a dark blanket, lay the blanket over the trap.
need to be slow and quiet, my wife was attempting this and a goat and a guinea was making noise and she got sprayed.
I am going to think this over very carefully, I have been near fresh spray , I think the bullet is going to win out.
Yes, it is a very powerful smell. You know what it was like just driving through it. You have that " OMG!! That was a skunk." feeling. Imagine having to stand there and smell it. Now imagine being in a confined space, and having to smell it. Now imagine being in a confined space, with the skunk smell, and trying to concentrate on schoolwork. Just plain not going to happen. I give skunks a wide berth. We were very lucky. When we first moved into our house a family of skunks decided to move in under the front porch. A neighbor across the street called on the phone with a "don't go out the front door" message. Mama, Papa, and three babies were having a little pow wow, family meeting. They must have liked the new house. We did. We put moth balls down the hole, and they vacated. Apparently to skunks, moth balls smell worse than skunks do.
I read a similar thread on trapperman. The guy caught a full grown mtn lion in a large DLS trap. Cats were protected in that area. So he drove his backhoe to the trap site, and lowered the front bucket onto the cat. He then got our of the machine, pulled the trapped paw out from under the bucket, and removed the trap. Then he got back into the cab of the backhoe, and lifted the bucket. The cat may have been bruized up, but it ran off just the same.
What people normally think of as the "skunk" smell is a weak distant thing from what it actually smells like at its full strength. To me, it smells like burning rubber tires only more intense. I have not been hit personally but have been with my dogs when they got hit. OMG!!!! Bathing them over and over in everything that I could find only lessened it. Then I had it on my hands and it just has to WEAR off. Months later when you would bathe them they would smell like a skunk! One of them got covered so much that she was actually wet. She was a cocker spaniel and I seriously considered shaving her.
My pitbull has been sprayed by a skunk more times than I can remember. We bathe him in dawn dishsoap and baking soda.
One of our dogs got sprayed when we let them out for the evening potty break. The worst of it was we didn't realize he had been sprayed until we let him back in the house. OMG!!! That took a lot of scrubbing. I think we just use regular shampoo.
For anyone dealing with skunks, this works at eliminating the smell on everything. From dogs and kids to cars and houses.
There are so many skunks in my area that during breeding season lots of them become roadkill. I can drive for miles and miles and smell nothing but skunk, skunk, and more skunk without let up. I have noticed that each skunk has its own peculiar odor "signature." One might smell just like "skunk weed," another might have a hint of a roasted coffee top note mixed in with normal skunk gag-nasty, another might smell rank and dank...and another might smell like what Tex described perfectly as burnt rubber on steriods. I may be just waaaay too observant for my own good, lol. .
GA, actually your just being very aware. Skunk odor does change depending on a wide range of variables such as diet, season, estrus, age, etc.. The active component in skunk essence is the sulfides. That's also what makes it so difficult to eliminate. It's also one of the reasons skunk essence is used in expensive perfumes. Many professional trappers make way more money from extracting the essence and selling it than they do from the sale of there furs. It will quickly teach a postman (or woman) to be careful with packages marked "fragile". LOL! Dale The things you learn as a wildlife biologist and government trapper. LOL!
Thank you for this...Until now, I thought I was pure-D nutz because during road trips I would blurt out things like, Folgers! That one was a Folgers! Or, We just passed a skuuuunk weedy one, f'sure! I can't wait to tell my friends that the nuances I can pick up from eau de Peppa le Pew is a real thing, as confirmed by a wildlife biologist! And they can all just quit snickering at me! .
