How to get rid of a family of skunks ?

When they decay the gland that holds their scent on each side at the base of their tale will also decay and you will get the smell. It is just a thickness of skin that separates the gland and juice from the outside world. it is not deep inside the animal. I used to draw the stuff out and sell it so I know. The smell has to go somewhere. If you think rotten flesh is bad wait until that perfume seeps into your woodwork forever. They would have to be removed after dead, or at minimum covered heavily with dirt.

For the most part the tomato juice treatment doesnt work well unless you take a bath in it. Thought i'd mention that.

If you use the ice be real quiet covering the holes. Perhaps a wood board and then cover that. I like the idea but them being under a house adds a bad element to this. Me, I'd block the holes while they are gone. If any are left alive under there you should hear them after a day or two trying to get out. if there is a baby left under there Momma will also let you know.

I have never done this but have always wondered if you made a tunnel out of wood, maybe a foot square, with a door in the middle that only pushes out... if you had lots of holes in that door (perhaps mesh) so they could see out, and covered all exits but that tunnel, they may leave and be gone. That is how they rid buildings of bats.

I considered doing that on my own home when I moved here as my basement was overridden with woodchucks and who knows what else.

warminmn wrote: ↑

Fri. Jul. 10, 2020 2:59 pm

When they decay the gland that holds their scent on each side at the base of their tale will also decay and you will get the smell. It is just a thickness of skin that separates the gland and juice from the outside world. it is not deep inside the animal. I used to draw the stuff out and sell it so I know. The smell has to go somewhere. If you think rotten flesh is bad wait until that perfume seeps into your woodwork forever. They would have to be removed after dead, or at minimum covered heavily with dirt.

For the most part the tomato juice treatment doesnt work well unless you take a bath in it. Thought i'd mention that.

If you use the ice be real quiet covering the holes. Perhaps a wood board and then cover that. I like the idea but them being under a house adds a bad element to this. Me, I'd block the holes while they are gone. If any are left alive under there you should hear them after a day or two trying to get out. if there is a baby left under there Momma will also let you know.

I have never done this but have always wondered if you made a tunnel out of wood, maybe a foot square, with a door in the middle that only pushes out... if you had lots of holes in that door (perhaps mesh) so they could see out, and covered all exits but that tunnel, they may leave and be gone. That is how they rid buildings of bats.

I considered doing that on my own home when I moved here as my basement was overridden with woodchucks and who knows what else.

This makes me wonder......

How does one find out there is a market for skunk oil and decide that is a business opportunity worth sticking a needle in a dead skunks azzzz hoping to not get stinked on????

Skunk meat is pretty darn good, right up there with Elk meat.

Hydrogen peroxide works better than tomato juice.

titleist1 wrote: ↑

Fri. Jul. 10, 2020 3:20 pm

This makes me wonder......

How does one find out there is a market for skunk oil and decide that is a business opportunity worth sticking a needle in a dead skunks azzzz hoping to not get stinked on????

I never stunk doing it. You just stay upwind, long rubber gloves, no problem, inject into a bottle with a rubber cap. Yellow gold, lol. It was a lure maker that bought it from me. In the fall if i killed one and it hadnt sprayed i thru them in a pile in the woods after skinning them then however many I had in a week or so I would draw it out of them. Real good money actually. Little competition It also made as much use out of the animal, other than meat, so it made sense.

I remember at that time, late 80s, early 90s, there was someone in NH or VT that raised them for that sole purpose, alive, drawing it out on a schedule. When he retired or quit he was trying to find a buyer but dont know if he did. I have an idea how much he would have made and it would have been a lot, more than you could guess, but he was dealing with live animals and I bet he could never go to town. At the time there was a key ingredient in perfumes and skunk was one of the choices. If women only knew what they were wearing I do not know if it is still used in perfume but it is in many call lures and most cover scents. But an animal only really smells one thing so if skunk is the strongest that is what it will smell. Added ingredients dont mean much... some may argue that with me but I could too.

mntbugy wrote: ↑

Fri. Jul. 10, 2020 3:25 pm

Skunk meat is pretty darn good, right up there with Elk meat.

Hydrogen peroxide works better than tomato juice.

I never ate it but I would not be scared too. Ive never been sprayed but when I got it on something I used gas, fire if possible

My dad was a trapper. The back of his ranger pickup always stank. He carried a syringe and bottle with him all the time. When he saw a skunk roadkill that wasn’t smashed, he would stop and remove the essence. Dennis

Ohh my, I was wondering if there are any usefull advice about skunks. As my mate has such a problem and I really want to help him.

Two solutions, I have used them both, either method must be used with an abundance of caution, first bromide, its heavier than air and kills everything. After a period of time the gas dissipates and is gone.
Second if you can get ahold of some old fashioned cherry bombs, dip them in elmers glue and roll them in either #4 shot or bb,s, let it dry and you have a small fragmentation grenade. Light it and toss it as far back in the hole as you can. We used to use sling shots and shoot them up into trees full of starlings at night, this was perilous but we got away with it without getting hurt or breaking glass! Killed hundreds of starlings.

bksaun wrote: ↑

Thu. Dec. 03, 2020 7:02 am

Two solutions, I have used them both, either method must be used with an abundance of caution, first bromide, its heavier than air and kills everything. After a period of time the gas dissipates and is gone.
Second if you can get ahold of some old fashioned cherry bombs, dip them in elmers glue and roll them in either #4 shot or bb,s, let it dry and you have a small fragmentation grenade. Light it and toss it as far back in the hole as you can. We used to use sling shots and shoot them up into trees full of starlings at night, this was perilous but we got away with it without getting hurt or breaking glass! Killed hundreds of starlings.

Whens the party? I can tell we would have gotten into lots of trouble if we had grown up near each other

Do as I would do and make pets out of them.

When I was a teen I remember how envious I was of my aunt who kept a pet Skunk.

Many if not all states they cant be kept for pets. Skunks can have rabies for months before they have symptoms (I've been told). Maybe 30-35 years ago some idiot I think in Iowa was catching wild ones and selling them as pets. Guess what happened? Yes one had rabies. There were several legit people raising them for pets at the time but everyone in states around me had to stop raising them and they were banned as pets.

Of all wild animals I would probably take a de-scented skunk above any of them. They are quite gentle. But its not legal. If it wasnt for rabies and smell they would probably be fairly popular pets.

Neighbor would trap them in a mid-sized Have-A-Heart trap baited with tuna fish. One they can barely fit in so they can't easily move to spray.

Then he'd approach the trap holding up an old blanket out in front of him and drape it over the trap covering it completely. The skunk doesn't feel threatened by the blanket and once covered by it and it gets dark in there, remains calm.

Then, he would take them a few miles up into the State lands to release.

After that neighbor moved away, I tried it that way once and it worked well.

He had one get under his tool shed. They come out every night, so he covered the ground outside the hole lightly with baking flour. Then went out after dark with a flash light to check for tracks leading out of the hole. When he saw tracks leading away he then filled up the hole and put some slates over the area so they couldn't dig back under.

Paul