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Justan
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Justan
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PostFri Jul 29, 2005 9:41 am 
Okay, this is a new one. My SO has a soft heart for wildlife, so she likes to feed some of the local feral cats. Well one thing leads to another, and yesterday I found that there are at lest 2 skunks that have taken up residence near the cat food bowl. While I could just shoot the critters, that’s not my first choice. So how does one capture skunk? Does the state county or ?? offer a service?

-Justan Elk
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Tazz
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PostFri Jul 29, 2005 10:05 am 
rent a have a heart trap and catch them but be careful you could get it eek.gif lol.gif Cover it with a old towel that you can throw away so they can't see you coming to pick them up and release. Not too many ways to avoid getting sprayed. The smell soaks into everything. or you can call a pest control place and pay to have them removed. good luck been there done that yuck.

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polecatjoe
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polecatjoe
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PostFri Jul 29, 2005 10:36 am 
Be sure to set the trap as far away from your house as you think you can lure them, and wear clothes you won't mind burning later! clown.gif In my experience, skunks seem to have a hair-trigger when it comes to releasing their fine perfume; I guess they figure they can always make more.

"If we didn't live venturously, plucking the wild goat by the beard, and trembling over precipices, we should never be depressed, I've no doubt; but already should be faded, fatalistic and aged." - Virginia Woolf
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salish
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salish
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PostSat Jul 30, 2005 8:57 am 
Several years ago we had a huge problem with raccoons in our back yard, due to having two dogs, and keeping the dog food in the house was the long term answer, although it took a couple of years for the coons to realize it. We were concerned because one of our dogs was elderly and unable to defend herself, and raccoons are anything but the cute fuzzy creatures of Disney movies. Trapping: I don't know where you live, but I wanted to use a Have-a-Heart trap and relocate these coons somewhere outside the city, but in a call to the City of Seattle I was told it was illegal for home owners to trap animals. You must have a professional animal trapper do this for you. They had one or two who contracted with the city and the cost was around $150.00. Short term: keep the food inside and try pouring white vinegar in a perimeter around the area you do not want the skunks in. If their scenting ability is as sensitive as raccoons they will not like this and may back off. You have to apply it every couple of days, and every day if it rains. I'll bet Karen has some suggestions for this.... Cliff

My short-term memory is not as sharp as it used to be. Also, my short-term memory's not as sharp as it used to be.
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Justan
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Justan
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PostSat Jul 30, 2005 9:17 am 
Thanks for the comments, everyone! Sounds like a thorny, or at least smelly problem. My only real complaint is that the Skunks mark “their” territory pretty frequently. We are well away from anything so I doubt if city regs will come to play. I looked for pierce county animal control briefly yesterday but didn’t find it. Will look more as spare time permits. If I could have ‘em removed for $150 it would be a trivial price to pay. Anyone know what family skunks belong to? And how big their families typically are? They appear to be rather docile creatures, despite having claws as long as a cougars. They move slowly and as if they aren’t very attentive of the world around them. I’ll look into the hav a heart traps as well

-Justan Elk
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lookout bob
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Joined: 12 Apr 2005
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lookout bob
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PostMon Aug 01, 2005 11:05 am 
Justan....skunks are mustelids....members of the weasel family. Good luck and don't get stunk..... lol.gif

"Altitude is its own reward" John Jerome ( from "On Mountains")
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Snowshoe Hare
Defunct lagomorph



Joined: 03 Dec 2004
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Snowshoe Hare
Defunct lagomorph
PostMon Aug 01, 2005 3:44 pm 
Leaving pet food outside just seems to encourage this type of problem doesn't it? Then your second or third option is to shoot the skunks! lol.gif dizzy.gif I'm sure you were kidding. Especially if you live rurally, but even in the city you'll get wildlife nosing around. Now that you've got a problem I personally wouldn't mess with a skunk. I've trapped cats a long time ago that hung out at our house because we had some nut cat lady hockeygrin.gif next door feeding literally dozens of cats. Using a Humane Society trap we caught quite a few and took them miles away to release them (some made it back within days) and we caught a possum or two that stunk up our station wagon to high heaven. Not worth it.

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Jamin Smitchger
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PostThu Sep 08, 2005 1:10 pm 
I used to be a trapper. You get a BOX trap NOT a wire cage trap and trap the skunk. Then you pour water into the box trap and drown the critter. However, if the critter hasn't caused a problem yet I really wouldn't worry about it. Skunks will usually not spray unless you frighten them terribly. smile.gif

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Snowbrushy
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PostSat Sep 17, 2005 7:50 pm 
Drown, Shoot Skunk ..
I'm sure that Mark Twain could have made these solution's to the skunk problem into a clever joke. But I'll call it fuzzy stewardship.

Oh Pilot of the storm who leaves no trace Like thoughts inside a dream Heed the path that led me to that place Yellow desert stream.
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