Earlier this week we found that there was a visitor in our garage.
The telltail sign was the that the garbage was strewn around.
I was on my way to Mexico so I figured that if we left the door open he would leave.
After I left my wife informed me that it didn't work because after cleaning things up it happened day after day
Finally my wife set a trap with a few peanuts and PB to entice the visitor.
Mean while we were concerned that they/it might get into the T or A.
She finally captured the offending rodent in the trap and things got interesting because it was a skunk
What the heck do you do with a captured skunk when it is in the garage next to your two antique cars and the everyday vehicle and you are 3,000 miles away?
The answer was simple - Call the local police!
My good friend Chief Art showed up and informed her that since the town did not have and animal control officer due to
budget limitations and he was not allowed to transport animals he helped my wife move the captured Skunk out of the garage so she could get to her van.
Now I have to deal with a pissed off skunk that is in a trap in the driveway.
I could let the damn thing loose- hoping that it learn a lesson about trying to make my garage it's home, shot the darn thing for being stupid, let it die in the trap, or make it someone else's problem by moving it "across the river" and taking the risk oif a getting sprayed with smelly stuff.
What should I do?
I would perform the 3 S's............Shoot, Shovel and Shut-up!
Mike,
That is funny and not politically correct. Most of us would follow that advice or would sort of stop about half way across the river and drop the trap over the side rail.
Or there is the third alternative ....
You know that PITA person you have to deal with all too often ?
Yeah.
Everyone loves a good surprise, right ?
Berger,
Now that was really funny!
They can be a problem. We have them around here, smell them often, but not been sprayed yet. I haven't found one inside any buildings yet, either.
I usually call out when I go outside at night.
And I did step out onto the deck to get this picture.
Friendly little fella!?
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2
I like that -
Call a PITA person and have them pick up their skunk.
It would make for great afternoon entertainment, or a Utube video.
Now looking for a PITA person in NH!
I have a skunk visitor that comes around my house about once a week. I have never seen him but know that he exists. Where I live you can open the windows after sunset just about every day in the summer and cool off the house and leave them open all night long so as to wake up to a delightfully cool house with out running the air conditioner. Not so much when the visitor comes by. Since I live close to Boulder CO I am thinking that a relocate may be in the cards.
We used to feed our cats on the back deck:
Paul - My experience with relocation has opened more problems.
What do you do when you have a pissed off SKUNK in a trap?
The shithead doesn't get it that all i want to do is have his smell somewhere else.
Fred,
Empirical data indicates that they smell about the same dead or alive. I really don't think that the average PETA person would understand the difference if it showed up in their hot tub.
(Message edited by paulmikeska on October 31, 2014)
Just start the cars and close the doors. Problem solved.
Once while trying to catch feral cats at my house I caught a large Raccoon in a Have a Heart trap. To say he was rather pissed off would have been an understatement! I had to put a heavy blanket over the trap and wear leather welding gloves just to be able to pick the trap up. They can get their hands a long way out of the trap in the blink of an eye. I am quite sure that he said that my mother was not married to my father. I made sure that I had a 12 gauge in my hand when I opened the trap about 80 miles from my home. When he exited the trap I was actually able to see what "haul ass" looks like.
Take him to the vet...have him turned into a striped house cat with no more stinkability...then take him for Depot Hack rides all the time...
Would make folks real interested...or distant and puzzled! Certainly part of a conversation!
I think Burger meant Pain In The Ass (PITA)not some animal rights group
PETA is an organization that provides food for the homeless. it means "people eating tasty animals"
Had the same problem some time back. Parked my pickup as close to the trap as I could without setting off the skunk. Dug out a 4” black drain hose that is used on the downspouts of the house, put one end over the tailpipe and sneaky doodled the other end as close to the trap as I could with a long stick, keeping the skunk downwind of the end of the hose. Let the engine run for awhile and when he starts getting woozie, approach the cage with a tarp or a sheet of plastic held up in front of you so he can’t see you coming. Cover the cage and voila, dead skunk without the stink!! No guarantees but it worked in my case!! I call it the assisted suicide method. Good luck
Ron Horton - Pleasant View, Utah
Same problem--Couldn't open the trap any other way so I just quietly walked up, opened the door then stepped away. Skunk calmly walked away without so much as a "Fare the well!"
You say he wants a trip across the river? Just tie a rope to the cage, and pull it across the river. If he knows how to swim no problems for him. If not when you clean the cage out he should not give you any problems.
If he must die, just shoot him. Don't let him starve in the trap and drown him. That, to me, is unnecessarily cruel. No, I'm not one of the PETA brigade, just don't like to see things suffer is all.
I THINK if you cover the trap you could move it with out getting sprayed.
I had a skunk in a Hav-A-Hart trap one time and I just rolled the trap over so the doors opened and he just walked away as if nothing happened.
Good luck.
Ditto what Dale said...cover it up...they say if they can't see what's going on , they won't spray
Believe it or not, skunks (when appropriately modified) make very sweet, very unique pets. -Were it me, I'd call my dog's vet and explain that I'd like to have the little striped fella de-fragranced (and let the vet figure out how to get the skunk to his office), and then I'd put him in the Tin Lizzie and take him with me to car-shows. -I enjoy doing the "spectators in funny hats" thing and the spectators would look even funnier posing with a skunk.
At a car-show, I can park my '15 Flivver next to a $250,000 Ferrari and it'll be my car people walk over to gawk at. -Imagine the draw of adding a cute lil' skunk!
I've also heard they make good pets. Talked with one person who had one de-skunked and had it as a pet. One day the back door was open and him and his wife couldn't find the skunk. His wife continued searching the house while he went out in the back yard. There was the skunk along the back fence. He picked it up and as he was carrying it back to the house his wife called out from inside the House "I found him - he's right here!!!"
If you set a cage trap put a tarp over it with the handle through a slit and enough tarp so you can fold it over the door when the little one goes inside.
I was sitting in by back yard and heard scratching behind me, thinking it was the cat did not think much about it. I was about to reach down as it walked by me, less then 16 inches from the chair, but stopped in mid reach! LOL, boy was my heart going thump-thump! Just about the time my heart got back to normal, yup, the 2ed one walked by put it's paws on the step to the deck and looked at me, turned and went back on it's way.
Then there's the story about the opossum in the house eating the cat food, but that's for another day.
It is said that if you pick up a skunk by his tail and do not let him near any thing where he can brace his rear legs, no problem.
Jim Golden may have experience in this area
I have read that they only spray as a last resort because it is basically a one-time defense. They can't instantly "reload" the glands, so they will only spray if there is no other option. I have also heard that they cannot spray if they can't raise their tail, so in the trap they should not spray. I have no experience either way, any I'd like to stay "inexperienced."
This morning I decided to let the skunk out of the cage. I figured that he was smarter than some people I know and because of his experience would rather stay out of the garage.
I attached a rope with a hook thru the cover to the handle that opens the door so I could stand back. I gently pulled the rope and the trap just slide across the driveway. So I slid it to the grass then gave a hefty pull on the rope. The trap just turned on its side
Now I had a shaken up / pissed off skunk in a trap laying on it's side with my wife on the porch laughing.
I was hoping that the door would open but it was stuck. I slowly approached the cage and found that the skunk had pulled the ends of the cover thru the wire cage on all four corners and it was stopping the door from opening.
Shaken up / pissed off Skunk, trap on its side, door stuck and wife laughing - me in trouble.
So I began trying to get the door free by pulling on the cover. It worked and the door opened. A big white and black skunk waddled out of the trap and looked at me. I looked at him. He looked at me. Turned around and slowly waddled across the driveway and went into the culvert under the drive.
I hope he is smarter than some of the people I know and stays out of the garage.
Fred,If it ever happen's again would you please have the wife make a video!!!!!!! Bud.
Ken She had her cell phone out -
what really bother me is that she will find a video to show sometime in the future