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

[Rock Crawler]

Very simple. Once you see the skunk in the trap get a large sheet or tarp and walk toward the trap holding it up in front of you. I wrap in around my hands and walk on it kicking it forward. I don't let the skunk see a hand or foot. When you get to the trap drop the sheet over it and wrap it tightly around. You can then feel around and find the handle and pick the trap up and take it out to a field or in the back of a truck. One young lady at our church would put them in the back of her mother's minivan and the mom would drive them miles away before releasing.

Anyway, once you are at the release point stand the trap on end, uncover the door keeping the sheet around the trap and carefully open it and use the hook to hold it open. (I also use a wire tie) The skunk will be on the bottom watching but will not spray. Set the trap down, grab an end of the sheet firmly, and rapidly walk away pulling the sheet as you go. Then you wait until the skunk finally decides to leave the trap and wander off.

Now for the rest of the story.

I release everything I trap except skunks. We had one spray under our house about 10:00 at night ten years ago and it was a nightmare. I had to go back in the house to get my billfold and keys and holding my breath with a hand covering my mouth and my nose pinched shut I could still TASTE the smell. We were out of our house for two weeks. Had the house cleared of the smell in a week when another sprayed outside and put us back out again. So the skunks I trap usually die of lead poisoning. Specifically 12-gauge, 3 inch, #4 buckshot with 41 pellets lead poisoning. I shoot them in the trap then go purchase a new trap. Let the trap set for a couple days then put it in a large heavy duty trash bag using gloves. I tightly close the bag with the gloves inside and put it in the trash for pickup.

I know people say that skunks are beneficial and should not be killed but we were out over two thousand dollars and our insurance company over ten thousand when that one sprayed under our house. The agent said that they had some people leave their house on vacation for two weeks and skunks got in the air conditioning vents and sprayed. When that happens the central unit and ductwork have to be replaced. Everything in the house has to be replaced. The agent said that the people and the insurance company would have come out cheaper if the house had burned to the ground and it was a large expensive house. When the one sprayed under our house my wife had to throw away flour and sugar stored in (supposedly) airtight containers.

I have never been sprayed but I have had one very close call in fifteen to twenty that I've caught. I used to release them but don't anymore. I released one using the method mentioned above and it was a large male during the breeding season. He was aggressive and stormed out of the trap very angry and hissing. If they are hissing they are about to spray. So I was running backwards and had my shotgun with me. Forgetting that I have a blind spot in my right eye I shot three times missing by a large amount. Once I was at a safe distance I switched aiming eyes and shot him right in the part that was aimed at me.

Good luck.

RSKY

This guy knows the way. I have captured 7 so far this way, in a box trap. You hold a sheet and walk to it, I do not wory much about my feet, I just hold my hands up ad out with the sheet barely touching the ground. You drape the sheet over ad the skunk just angrily jerks around trying to understand his situation a bit. I place them in the back of the UTV, drive them a mile or so out into my woods and open the trap with the door exposed, but the sheet covering the top, back, left and right side. He will normally walk out pretty quick, but once I had to wait like 5 minutes. I just get it open and stay back, as he starts heading out, I walk back 20 feet or so and stand still. They normally turn and give me a nasty look, then they get moving away. They aren't looking for a fight. I have never been sprayed., I have never had them spray while carrying them or transporting them.

Unlike most sane humans, my father screwed up my head as a child with relation to skunks and the odor. As children, if a skunk were hit on a road, my dad would stop the car and open the door, while telling me and my sister how glorious the scent of skunk is. From a very young age I was told that skunk was a great smell. This caused my young brain to re-wire so that I LOVE the smell. I still pull over to get out of the car and take in the wonderous odor of a freshly killed skunk. I had a lady at work who came in late one morning because she ran over a skunk, and her Cadillac was covered with the scent. She was crying and saying that she had to pull over to vomit a couple times on the way in. I happily offered to drive the car to a nearby pressure wash business and do my best to soap up and spray down the underside. It was one of the best rides I ever had in a car! I have actually seen that you vcan by essence of skunk on Amazon, I considered doing so, so that I could enjoy the scent at will. I love the smell. Damn my father for messing up my head!

 

[nyone]

When I've had that issue with unwelcome visitors I usually place the trap a good 50yd from the house. When one gets caught I send it a little sleeping pill (usually .22") and then wait a half day to go out to scoop the trap up with the loader and take it to the back 40 to empty.

I have done this too. But when the bullet entered the skunk took that as a clue to empty its whole musk sack. I couldn't go behind my garage for about 2 weeks.

 

[RSKY]

I have done this too. But when the bullet entered the skunk took that as a clue to empty its whole musk sack. I couldn't go behind my garage for about 2 weeks.

Use a shotgun and hit them in the rear quarter. Then quickly get rid of the carcass. Very little smell.

RSKY

 

[riptides]

Use a shotgun and hit them in the rear quarter. Then quickly get rid of the carcass. Very little smell.

RSKY

What do you do with the trap after you shoot the skunk in it? LOL.

 

[BigBlue1]

Use a shotgun and hit them in the rear quarter. Then quickly get rid of the carcass. Very little smell.

RSKY

Doesn't that stand a high chance of destroying the trap?

 

[BigBlue1]

What do you do with the trap after you shoot the skunk in it? LOL.

With my method, I leave it set for a few hours after the sleeping pill, then scoop the trap up with the tractor loader, take it out to the back 40, wear a pair of gloves and open the trap and dump sleepy out. Trap gets a shower and then sits outside for a few days. The smell never really hangs on the trap too long and even at the original point of capture the smell has never lasted too long. I guess we have good wind around here.

 

[QRTRHRS]

A tip for dog owners. Always keep a bottle of saline on hand for flushing out their eyes. When my rottie got blasted years ago, I was wearing contact lenses so I had some. I emptied the whole container on her then we both took a bath with Dawn dish detergent.

 

[WinterDeere]

...then we both took a bath with Dawn dish detergent.

I still remember when my parents first bought the house in which I spent most of my childhood and teen years, and us finding a full bathroom in the basement, with a concrete shower stall. I remember everyone joking about it, wondering who the heck would ever want to use a concrete shower in the basement, with two other shower stalls and a tub in the bathrooms upstairs.

Then it came time to was our lab-shepherd mix, and dad suddenly realized the brilliance of the prior owner... who also had dogs. Thereafter, that became the dog's shower.

 

[RSKY]

What do you do with the trap after you shoot the skunk in it? LOL.

Wrap it in a heavy duty black trash bag and put it in trash can for pickup. Hate to admit it but I've also thrown them off a country bridge into a river. Then I go buy a new trap and consider it money well spent.

RSKY

 

[RSKY]

The few times I've got a skunk out of a trap before shooting I've just left the carcass on the ground and it will be gone the next day. Apparently coyotes love dead skunk. I have never had a carcass last more than 48 hours. Drag them in the field behind the house and they disappear. Same thing with squirrels, just leave them on the ground and they will be gone the next day. The year neighbors and I killed about two hundred off out three acres I was bagging them and putting them in the trash and the guy to the south told me to let them stay where they fell and they would be gone the next day and sure enough it happened.

RSKY