I have a set of skunks living in the crawl space of my rental property. The animal control officer from the county has set several live catch traps, since skunks are a common carrier of rabies here in sunny Arizona. No skunks after several weeks with the traps, but have caught and releases several feral cats.
Anybody got any suggestions, short of going in and grabbing them by the short hairs and hauling them out? One neighbor has suggested flooding the space with car exhaust, but that might be as bad as skunk smell, of which there is plenty.
Norm
Replies
What ever you do, do NOT try to scare them out!
LOL
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Are you sure you've got a complete set ?
Buy a case of mothballs. Toss them all over in the crawl space.
Since it's a crawlspace, you need a LOT of them.
If you want to be able to drag them back out later, put a box each, into some sort of net bags, tie string to them, and toss them in as evenly as possible.
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Had a guy trap them at a friends house. He said they like bananas. The skunk was just sitting in the cage munching away.
John
dont forget to fix any point of entry after youve cought them
Sphere has a dog that will get rid of them.
I heard that unless they lift their tail they can't spray. So if you grab them by the tail they can't spray. This came from someone who did it. Crazy farmers. I guess they are bored or have had their smeller burnt out on the farm.
And I heard that if you hold their nose, they don't smell.
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Edited 12/8/2008 12:54 am by Luka
Figure out how they get in/out. Board up every way except one. On that one, build a one way door, that which they can leave but cannot get back in again.
I did that once with a racoon at my parents house. Used 1/4" wire mesh. Attached around access so the 'coon could leave, but could not get back in. One way door.
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First they really do not want to spray. They do it defensively and I've messed with some in the past and it really takes a bit to get them to spray.
In my experience with have a heart traps, the only adult animals stupid enough to go in there are cats. Although I did catch an adult possum once. I have caught over a dozen baby skunks, woodchucks, etc. The baby skunks are very friendly and very calm. They have the same look as a puppy dog with their eyes.
In your situation, the skunks are not living in there forever. I am not familiar with skunk den's, do some google searches and find out if they have a den or tunnels with multiple accesses. If they have a den, then find out how they are getting in and make a one way door so they can only go out and cannot get back in. They'll simply move somewhere else and you'll never even meet them.
If they have multiple accesses, I would think putting some light under there would work well. Skunks are nocturnal and will not like the lights. If they don't like the environment, they really move on very quickly. Also, you might have some luck with something like a predators #### from a hunting supply shop. Put that on some tennis balls or something else and fire them in there. The scent will make them scared and they'll move on.
Rent one of these -
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Seriously - Luka has the right idea - mothballs in bags.
Jeff
They have a particular liking for tuna fish (but so do the cats) - as was stated earlier seal up everything but one entrance and make a one way door. They do make commercial units for this purpose but for the life of me I cant remember the manuf. name at the moment. Ask the animal control officer he might know. I have never had trouble catching skunks in a hav-a-heart - caught probably a hundred that way...
Just about anything a skunk will eat, a cat will eat as well. The best bet is to use a Havahart trap and just release the cats, they will get the hint eventually and stay clear. Also, if using a havahart, cover it with a blanket after setting it, once the skunk is inside, carry the trap with the blanket still covering the animal, it keeps them calmer and less likely to spray. I am a trapper, and have had lots of experience with skunk essence....
good suggestions, but i'd take the cats to the local animal shelter, which will euthanize them. feral cats are a big damn nuisance.
I like cats, but feral ones make great coyote bait..;-) and those ones get spiritually released....
243 or 270?
besides being a nuisance they do a lot of damage to the environment. In my area we'll have animal loving nuts feed the feral cats which only increases the problem. They love animals but never think that feral cats kill all kinds of birds. We used to have lots of pheasant but now you never see them.I remember Australia had a major problem with wild cats and driving some species to near extinction.
I really don't want this thread to drift off into a discussion of feral cats. Those are a different problem, with a different solution. However ...
Are we sure there are skunks? A cat marking it's territory (spraying) smells a lot like skunk .... especially if there are several males contesting the area.
IF you have feral cats, the solution is to trap-neuter-release-tend. Those with questions, PM me. I have some experience with this.
Other pests, the key is to not feed them. Ever. No more leaving out a dish of food for the dog. Close off areas where you don't want them to nest; this works best if there are better nesting sites available.
A second approach is to render the nesting side undesirable ... too much moisture, noise, etc. Not as effective as closing it off in the first place.
Wow! Thanks for all the suggestions, especially the one about holding the skunks noses so they don't smell! Some others were very helpful, though. I'm going to have trouble making the crawl space inaccessible, though as it's under a manufactured home, so it has skirting. I'll have to use chicken wire all around the house, I guess. It was interesting to hear from the Animal Control Officer that releasing the feral cats was a felony! He hadn't mentioned that before. A neighbor suggested running a hose from the car's exhaust into the crawlspace, but I'm leary of that. It seems bound to leave residual odors, if not carbon monoxide. Anyone tried that? My wife called a pest control service and they don't do skunks. They also suggested mothballs.
Thanks again to all who have replied.
Norm
Why not run hardware cloth around the perimiter of the crawlspace behind the skirting so it is out of sight?
Run chicken wire or something similar and bury it down into the ground a foot, then attach up above and put the skirting up and you'll never see it. It's important to bury it, skunks and most animals dig very well.
chicken wire may not be small enough to keep a skunk out. if there head can fit through so can the rest of their body. have used peanut butter as bait and caught a large skunk in a liye trap. he was large enough he couldn't spray inside the trap.
Sounds like all good suggestions. I put two pans, each with a pound of mothballs, into the crawlspace. I put some flour around the two exits, to show if anyone is leaving. If there are tracks leaving the premises, I'll seal the entrances with a flap and put 36 inch hardware cloth around the house, under the skirting, to prevent them from coming back. I'm going to just lay it on the ground, out about 18 inches, with the rest under the house. How's that sound? Thanks for all the good suggestions.
Norm
I know around here, you cannot release skunks/possums/racoons elsewhere from where they were caught. Against laws (maybe federal???). This comes from a game warden (also trapping instructor). You can spread diseases like rabbies by moving animals.
You can release them where they are caught. or you can legally "whack em out", either by drowning or bonking them on the head til dead.
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
I was informed by the Animal Control Officer after I had released two feral cats that if was a felony to open the live traps. He said he would release skunks elsewhere, but he took the feral cat away. Thanks for the reply.
Norm
i had this same problem under a mobile home.
first i looked pretty hard for where i thought the were going in and out.
i baited 3 traps all within 10' of where they were going in at.
now let me see if i can explain this. i tied a rope to the trap and angled it up to a tree limb.looped it over a branch of the tree,straight under the branch was a 30 gal trash can full of water.
baited one with apples,one cat food ,and the other scraps from supper.now skunk gets into trap. you have the rope tied a safe distance away and pull the trap up in the air.it swings over above the water,sploosh you drop him. let him soak for a couple hours.pull it and throw the 15.00 trap and skunk away.
caught mine first night,plus 1 cat and one opossum.i didn't make them go swimming.
then seal up the entry and so far a year later i'm goodif a man speaks in the forest,and there's not a woman to hear him,is he still wrong?
Allways, that sounds like a good way to do it. I have a feeling the skunks are hibernating already. The amount of odor is way down. I may yet crawl under there and pinch the nose of the skunk so he doesn't smell as was suggested earlier.
Thanks Norm
seems to me early spring is when the have little ones,don't let that happen.lolif a man speaks in the forest,and there's not a woman to hear him,is he still wrong?
Read The Wizard of Loneliness (or get the movie), then put in a call to John T... get some fun outa them skunks. Now you see this one-eyed midget
Shouting the word "NOW"
And you say, "For what reason?"
And he says, "How?"
And you say, "What does this mean?"
And he screams back, "You're a cow
Give me some milk
Or else go home"
A guy I know got the trap from animal control, Caught the skunk, called animal control. they didn't want the skunk, said you caught it ...it's yours...They said the skunk wont spray when they are in the trap. he threw a blanket ofer the trap, used a shop vac hose hoked up to his wife's new honda. the exhaust was so clean it didn't even make the skunk dizzy. he had to get his old dodge van the Carbon monoxide finally did the skunk in.
I like that.With the exhaust, the skunk gets burning, runny eyes and nose, coughs a bit, and goes to sleep.Drowning is a nasty way to die.
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I like that.
With the exhaust, the skunk gets burning, runny eyes and nose, coughs a bit, and goes to sleep.
Drowning is a nasty way to die.
Car exhaust may actually be illegal method. It was explained to me that drowning and/or bonking on the head is the only legal way of disposal.
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
A friend of mine has to trap raccoons near his place, as they damage his very large market garden. He shoots them in the trap with a shotgun. That seems like the most humane way to me. Drowning?? Unbelievable.
I did not create the rules, I am just reporting on them.
Many residential areas, you cannot discharge a firearm. But yes, shooting would be quicker, less "cruel".
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
I would think a shotgun blast would severely reduce the useful life of the trap.
"I would think a shotgun blast would severely reduce the useful life of the trap."Great! The blood, guts, bits and pieces in the grid... Still laughing an hour later.
I've been out of town for several days, so the skunk has had a vacation. Let my at him, now. He's had to breathe in the aroma of moth balls, two boxes in pans pushed inside the crawl space, during his vacation, though. I spent the weekend in Los Angeles, breathing in their version of "Air!" I enjoyed the runny eyes and nose and was highly sympathetic to the skunks breathing in exhaust fumes. But I'm willing to give the skunk some more experience with exhaust. The Animal Control Officer thinks the skunks are either gone or dead, but I doubt that very much. I think they're hibernating. I wonder if loud Rock and Roll or Hip Hop would be a deterent?
Nah, too cruel! Thanks again for all the good suggestions!
Norm
+1 on the mothballs, but don't spread them around, just pour a whole bag into a bowl of ammonia and leave it in the crawl.
I have a great story about skunks under a front slab. I owned a split level home in IL about 15 years ago. Came home from work in January one day, cold and snow. Smelled the faint odor of a skunk in my front yard. Same smell the next day, so I did a little investigative work.
I found a hole that was dug out under my front slab where said skunk had been taking up residence. Tried the hose on the end of the truck exhaust to see if I could route the rascal - no luck. So, being a former fur trapper in high school and college, I set a #1-1/2 coil spring in front of the hole. Next day, the trap is sprung and dragged into the hole below my front concrete slab. I had the trap chain wired to a bush, so I had him now!
I went into the house and grabbed my .22 pellet gun, pulled HARD on the wire and chain (this skunk did NOT want to come out), and out of the hole comes the skunk's head. I greet him with a pellet between the eyes, and send him to skunk heaven. The skunk simultaneously leaves me with a holy card, a spray under my slab, and sends the odor into my adjacent crawl space, where it is nicely distributed throughout my house by my forced air furnace blower.
I had dealt with skunks in my youth, but I had forgotten just how potent the spray is. On a molecular level, it seems to permeate EVERYTHING. Even my truck keys smelled, much less clothes, etc. I left the dead skunk in the snow, and I promptly got the heck out of Dodge for a while after opening the windows, and went to do some shopping at the local grocery store. When I was in the checkout line, the bagger kid says to the checker, "do you smell a skunk?" The checker says, "Yeah, I smelled one out in the parking lot a little while ago, too." That skunk was yours truly!
The smell took days to subside, and a few weeks later I had another skunk dig back in and take up residence. This time I called a trapper with a live trap who caught the perp and took him out to a release site in the country, and sent him on his way with a .12ga blast.
I still luagh to myself when I think about that episode.
Just to play 'devil's advocate:' What's wrong with a few skunks?
OK, you don't want them in your home ... maybe they'll move if you make them a nicer home .... say, in your garden shed?
After all, what do skunks, raccoons, and opossums, even feral cats, eat? If there's no food, they won't be around. Do you really want to 'protect' the mice, etc., that they feed upon?
Heck, maybe Stinky will come to recognize you ... and only spray the errant burglar or graffitti artist. :D
"What's wrong with a few skunks?"Nothing.As long as you have enough fingers and thumbs to hold all their noses, to keep them from smelling.
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For starters, skunks are a major carrier of rabies. Bats are very ecologically valuable creatures, but they, too, are major rabies carriers. They may be good for the environment, but I don't want them in my house.Skunks, meanwhile, are scavengers, rabies carriers, and predators of gamebird and waterfowl eggs. I have absoulutely no use for these varmints.DIA
What's wrong with a few skunks?
Well, they will also poop in the crawl space (or your attic). Not necessarily near where the spot os that they sleep. But they will poop not too far away.
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
Medium sized Hav-A-Hart with marshmallows for bait. Do not use a bigger trap; they have to raise their tails to spray. Dig a hole and bury them. No one wants them.
Here, because of rabies, you can not transport an animal, they must be destroyed. The recommended way is to drown them.
Skunks will leave their home at night, then you can sprinkle some repellent around the perimeter. They won't go near it. I've heard you can also pour #### too. there might be something to it. I grew up on a farm, one bath and eight people. Sometimes you just couldn't wait for your brother to get out of the bathroom. I don't recall ever seeing a skunk around our place.