Hunting Skunks

[Turk]

Years ago once in a while I'd catch a skunk in my red fox sets what a stinky mess.

Question: If you shoot a skunk does it release it scent?

I've got a couple living under a out shed about 30 yards form the house.

Turk

[KYE-OAT]

Nine times out of ten, they still spray and stink up the place....occasionally I've been lucky on head shots....

[labgrade]

I'd think a decent .22LR at fairly close range through the head would do the trick, but wouldn't want to risk it in my house/car. Cut the spinal cord/brain intersect & things don't happen any more. Don't & things just might ....

Reason I mention car is one day, I fired up my Land Cruiser, got all set to go & opened up the glove compartment. Inside sat a youngster striped skunk. First thought was to, well actually - run!, second was shoot it. That thought lasted a whole second or two for obvious reasons. Shooting a skunk & putting a bullet through it AND the firewall didn't seem too good an idea.


I decided to just close the gc door and drive on, hoping for no smells .... Got to work, called the DOW. They said mothballs will keep 'em out & away - they didn't. Ended up (gently) poking the poor little fellow with a straightened out coathanger for about an hour till he finally left the scene. A cute li'l fellow & never did act nasty in any way. Kinda hated to see him go, except for the potential for absolutely ruining my LC.

Was driving once & the car in front of us dusted a skunk. Stopped to take a look. Looked like the skunk had no damage whatsoever & always thought a skunk hat would look cool. This thing had absoolutely no smell - you could literally stuff it into your nose & take a big ol' huff. Cool for me ....

Skinned it & since I wasn't going to be able to tan it right away, I ziplocked it & pitched it into the freezer. Next day, the entire refrig's contents (& I mean everything! stuff in jars not even opend yet) were permeated with the smell ... bad idea.

BTW, if your cat gets skunked, a bath with tomato juice gets you scratched & makes the tub area look like Manson's been visiting ...

[Art Eatman]

Easiest to bait them out in the late evening. Use canned cat or dog food. You then have the choice of blocking the access hole or shooting...

Art

[MFH]

It seems that nearly all will stink up a set... Not all bad, as fox may be attracted to the smell. In theory, cut the spine to dis-arm, but don't bet on it. Also, even triple bagging a skunk hide in the freezer won't prevent the experience of skunk flavor ice-cream

[Gator]

I've always wondered about "defused" skunks found in pet stores.

Somewhere there has to be a vet, with sweaty brow, pearing into the body of the skunk they are operating on, treating the stink glands very gently like a member of a bomb squard.

"Is it the red wire or the blue wire," the doctor ponders.
The tension builds and the nurse responds, "Once false move Dr. and we're all gonners."
"Let's hope this works, Nurse wipe my brow I'm going in."


Gator

[labgrade]

Tlked to the DOW about that cute li'l fella I had in my glove box ... they said you'd need a permit (what the hell doesn't require a permit anymore?) to keep a heretofore wild critter.

Followed up with a vet who said that the "success" rate for de-scenting 'em is about 50/50. Those the operation doesn't "take," end up with an inflamed rectum. Bad enough odds my way of thinkin'

Good imagry, Gator.

[Gator]

Labgrade,

Not too many years ago I had the pleasure of working as a LEO in rural Florida. It was an amazing experience. Some good, some bad. But I remember one day clearly amongst the many not some memorable days. It was the day my Lt. took fire while on patrol.

You see my Lt. was out by the airport on the fringes of town when he startled a “suspect” in the weeds. The suspect fired and the sound of “splat splat splat” was heard inside the car. My Lt. stopped to investigate and nearly turned green from the smell.

He returned to our PD and I generously helped him wash his car down. He refused to give me any details until he wrote his report. I read it very closely to determine what fiend would have done such a dastardly deed.

The report read, “Officer attacked. Shots fired. Suspect small, black and white. Furry. Last seen running East in to the woods. Be on the look out. Armed and dangerous.”

I signed this official report and laughed the incident away. Until the next morning when our Chief somberly walked down the hall and called me into his office. The Lt. was waiting and I was wondering what I’d done. The chief began a great lecture about how this incident should have been documented, forces called in from other agencies, and our pursuit should have ended up in an arrest because we couldn’t stand for this kind of thing.

We let him go for about five minutes before we suggested he read the report more clearly. The Lt. and I went to the library and Xeroxed photos of skunks and made wanted dead or alive posters.

Gator