mrfred54 Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 Caught a skunk in the live trap. Any good ideas how to get rid of it without smelling like a skunk.  ?????🤔 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twolines Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 None id mention here. I will say in my experience if it can get its tail up while in that trap it can nail ya. Usually skunks are caught in tube traps to lessen the chance of spray...or lethal traps like a body grippers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Englander Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 I was faced with the same problem and made a syringe extension out of PVC pipe - one with a cap with a hole for the needle and a smaller one to push the plunger inside. I approached slowly talking softly apologizing for what I was about to do and gave it about 30cc of acetone. It closed its eyes and quietly passed away without spraying. I had no quarrel with that skunk, just the ground hog that dug the hole it was investigating and felt badly about it. I've read that some trappers will talk softly and approach slowly and release the trap. I don't have the balls. I was in a full Tyvek suit just getting close. Edit: Found picture! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowrosefarm Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 Cover the trap with a tarp or blanket to move it. They generally won't spray in a confined area, and if they do it will be contained. They also have a hard time or can't spray if they are dehydrated........just sayin. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stronger800 Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 I have trapped 6 like that in the recent years.  45 years….never had a skunk….but now they come into the barn to eat cat food we leave out for the cats. Anyway, I have a neighbor that comes with a regular towel, leaves it half folded up, walks up very slowly, unfolds it and sets it over the trap, carry’s it away. He actually takes them back to his farm and releases them.  Knees down, open trap, he says they walk out slow and never look at him. He does like them to be in the trap for 12-24hr, and he releases them near a puddle if he can find one. Says they go right to it.  He’s got a bigger set than me though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Englander Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 I forgot to mention that mine was caught in a leg hold trap, not a live trap. Approach slowly talking softly, cover with blanket, let it calm down a bit then leave enough blanket off at the opening to let it out and release. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHF Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 neighbor kid, 14 or 15 at the time, came running into barn while i was milking said he had skunk in live trap what should he do. i told him walk up to trap slowly open it and back away. he came back later said it worked skunk just walked away. i said wow i didn't think that it would work!😊 pete 1 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iowaboy1965 Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 Had that predicament the other day. Let's just say the barn yard stank bad for 25 hours.....🤔 Used to have a coworker that would either tie a long rope to live trap or if not let them alone until they were unable to spray...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1256pickett Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 I have no personal experience but I have a friend who caught one years ago he started asking around and found out what most everyone here is saying. Cover the trap with a tarp or blanket. Apparently the dark is calming for them. Once moved slowly open trap from behind and slowly back away. He was nervous as could be he threw the tarp off his deck and got it to land on the trap. Then he somehow rigged up an extension to open the door from a safe distance. Afterward he said no problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
766 Man Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29  Always the issue of a skunk caught in a trap meant for something else but I try to leave skunks alone as they eat rodents of which I like far less than skunks.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Binderoid Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 1 hour ago, DHF said: neighbor kid, 14 or 15 at the time, came running into barn while i was milking said he had skunk in live trap what should he do. i told him walk up to trap slowly open it and back away. he came back later said it worked skunk just walked away. i said wow i didn't think that it would work!😊 pete That is absolutely true. A skunk can’t spray if it can’t lift it’s tail, as would be the case in a live trap (though I didn’t know this at the time). Put 20’ of chain on the trap and drug it down the lane near a stream. Had a long screwdriver to stick through the cage to hold the door open, and left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirt_Floor_Poor Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 The trappers I knew all said to wrap it in a tarp like mentioned. If you want to kill it, they always said to drown them. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomH Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 Back when I was renting a small farm from a friend so like 1987 or so. I came home from work to find a skunk on my back porch eating cat food and some past their prime apples I had left out. I told him to leave at once but he ignored me. That was the door that was open the front was locked, ended up getting into the basement. I went upstairs to a window right above and threw a few apples at him, that made him get off the porch. He went underneath the porch and stayed there. Ended up getting him in a live trap and just as said in other posts covered it with a blanket and put salmon dinner cat food in it and within a short time he was in. Had no problem relocating him down the road, carefully opened the trap and.... he wouldn't leave! Left him be for the night and the next afternoon I guess he gave up waiting for more salmon dinner and left. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rawleigh99 Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 Cover with blanket held so the skunk cannot see you. Take to pond and drop in. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vtfireman85 Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 Skunks are generally gentle and don't like spraying. Cover it with a blanket and take it to somewhere away and release it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vtfireman85 Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 They make terrific pets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandhiller Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 Like others have said, blanket over the live trap, never had one spray. Once when the boys were little I caught one in the barn. They seemed gungho to take him down to the creek but it was too awkward to carry him in the livetrap. I tied a 30' throw rope to it and told them to drag it on down, roll the trap over so the door falls open and get outta the way. You see what's comin' dont ya😄 About halfway down the trap rolled over, the door come open, the skunk headed up the rope and three little boys scattered like quail and made for home screaming like banshee's all the way. 😂 They never got sprayed and the skunk was last seen at a high lope going over a far hill🤣  6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twolines Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 Careful of the antitrappers...they get ahold of this stuff and go nuts with it. I used to belong to charles/paul dobbins trapperman and we were forbidden talking dispatch and any methods not legal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rawleigh99 Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 Is it not legal to kill varmints?? Don't tell the groundhogs I have been shooting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twolines Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 Its not always about legality...most of the time they will take quotes from the internet and smear you and whatever site your on. Im not trying to be a stinker...i just thought id mention them. Like the acetone comment...perfectly legal in many states but sounds horrible. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twolines Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 Im no anti for the record...for petes sake my screen name is representative of my hobby/trade. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delta Dirt Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 A mix of baking soda and white vinegar in a small plate/pan does a decent job on neutralizing skunk scent-------just in case he leaks a little bit on his last breath. From what I understand-----if the lead hits them up around the head or heart and makes an instant kill----they won't spray. I don't remember the mix ratio-----but believe I found it on Google. Be best to google it for yourself---been several years since I needed any.  DD 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nepoweshiekfarmalls Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 We have dealt with groundhogs, badgers and skunks in live traps by leaving them in the summer sun........... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rawleigh99 Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 Not skunks, but racoons I used just stick the 22 through the mesh and take a head shot. It is humane, they never know what hits them. I haven't had to mess with them in a long time though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vtfireman85 Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 2 hours ago, Twolines said: Careful of the antitrappers...they get ahold of this stuff and go nuts with it. I used to belong to charles/paul dobbins trapperman and we were forbidden talking dispatch and any methods not legal. Im not anti-trapper, but the skunk was just living his best life. If he needs to die, I suppose so be it if it was causing issues, but being humane is the right thing to do 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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