Not caught yet but how to remove a skunk from Havahart live trap?

[Dftodd]

They're so cute!

My grandmother had a hair dresser that worked out of her house when I was about 6 or 7. Well grandma took my brother and I over with her for her hair appointment since the lady had kids around our age.

Well they had a pet skunk. It had it's sent glands removed.

My brother and I played with the skunk for the majority of the visit. And yes, it was super cute.

 

[fatjay]

Shoot it from a distance.

 

[sixdogs]

Just wondering if you could not put a remote release pull line on the trap?

I'm looking into that now. I also remember they might open in the trap is upside down. Looking into that as well.

 

[sixdogs]

I did have a skunk walk into my open barn door once and got locked in. We both had a surprise when I open the door. He went east, I went west and that was that.

I also caught a coon in my Havahart set in sweet corn. He was the Chuck Norris of raccoons because he had the trap about 30 ft away and bent the wire mesh of the sides before he got out. The door must have opened as he rolled the cage over.

The next night, I caught him again but had the trap staked down. I got a boat hook, arm-length welding gloves and a grain bag. I got him in the bed of the truck in the cage and that's the last time I'll ever do that. I managed to get him out at the nature preserve, and he rolled around enough to get the trap to open. I have posted pics of that cage somewhere on the TBN a few years ago but I now avoid raccoons and relocation.


In Ohio, you can relocate a possum but aren't supposed to relocate a raccoon.

 

[Yander]

As a teen I had a trap line and caught a skunk in a leg hold trap. Only one option there, emptied my .22 mag into it and walked away to get it out the next day. Turned my trap green from the spray.

I shot one with a shot gun one evening, could barely see it, and it crawled under my barn (Portable building) and died. Took a long time for that odor to go away. I killed it because I had chickens and didn't want it around my hens. They also tear the crap out of my yard searching for grubs.

I had an old time tell me that he just walks up to the live trap and throws a blanket over it and takes them and turns them loose somewhere else. Never got sprayed.

 

[BigBlue1]

Use marshmallows for coon bait with live traps. Possum and skunks forage by smell and won't be attracted. 'Coons hunt by sight and MMs look like eggs, so they'll find them even in the dark and take an immediate liking to the taste. Stake or weight your traps so that litter-mates don't tip them over and allow escape. (BTDT)

Smaller live traps as used for squirrels are tops for skunks. If they can't raise their tail they can't spray. I take most all catches for a swim off the dock while in the trap. Old bait and critter poo get soaked and rinsed off 'naturally' with minimal mess. Twenty years of saving .22 LR ammo.

That's not my experience. I've trapped about 15 skunks and marshmallows were the only bait I used.

 

[RSKY]

And tie a length of rope to your trap so whatever happens you can drag it to a location where you want to handle it, shoot it, etc. . . ..

I tried this when we had the one spray under our house, see above post. I read that they could spray twenty feet so I tied a fifty foot rope on the trap. Plan was to drag it into the field behind the house and shoot it. The silly thing had chewed the rope apart where it was tied to the trap. Had to get the sheet out.

RSKY

 

[RSKY]

When we were having our skunk problem, well our major problem, have small problems with them about every year. Got distracted there, please forgive me. Anyway I was told to shoot them in the head and they wouldn't spray. Nope, didn't work, neighbors still haven't forgiven me for that cause it was right in our back yard. After the second time that failed and having to experiment out of necessity I have found that using the above mentioned kick like a mule 3" #4Buck and a shot to the rear hind quarters will get no spray two out of three times. When they do spray after being hit by 41 22-caliber pellets it kinda dribbles out and is not too bad.

I once caught five babies in the same trap at the same time. I thought they were cute and well I didn't want to walk back to the house for the shotgun and I had my 380 Ruger in my back pocket so maybe just shoot them one at a time. Nope,.... got one shot off and was looking at five hoisted tails and five buttholes. Made the short walk back to the house and out came the Maverick and the 3" Buckshot. Only took two shots to get them all.

RSKY

 

[2515R Dude]

Use marshmallows for coon bait with live traps. Possum and skunks forage by smell and won't be attracted. 'Coons hunt by sight and MMs look like eggs, so they'll find them even in the dark and take an immediate liking to the taste. Stake or weight your traps so that litter-mates don't tip them over and allow escape. (BTDT)

Smaller live traps as used for squirrels are tops for skunks. If they can't raise their tail they can't spray. I take most all catches for a swim off the dock while in the trap. Old bait and critter poo get soaked and rinsed off 'naturally' with minimal mess. Twenty years of saving .22 LR ammo.

I beg difference. I use marshmallow in my traps and caught everything including possums, coons, skunks' and even one time a feral cat. Everything in dog proof traps.
The conibear 220 works best for them. They never spray.

And it is true, if they cannot lift the tail, they would not spray. Dump them in the creek overnight, win-win, it is dead, not sprayed and the trap is clean next day.

 

[2515R Dude]

When we were having our skunk problem, well our major problem, have small problems with them about every year. Got distracted there, please forgive me. Anyway I was told to shoot them in the head and they wouldn't spray. Nope, didn't work,

RSKY

Right, for some reason shooting in the head makes them spray, go for lungs instead. They don't spray this way. I also was surprised but apparently they do not spray while suffocating. Lang shot or conibear work well for me