Skunk living in wellhouse-Advice on getting him out

[dmccarty]

Do I have a clean-burning diesel or can possums hold their breath a long time?

Yes to the diesel. Diesels don't produce much/any Carbon monoxide compared to a gas engine. If you believe the anti diesel crowd you did kill the possum with the particulates. That possum is going to die of cancer. Might take a few years though.

What you should have done is feed the possum grain to "clean" it out. After a few weeks, kill it and make possum stew. One of my distant relations by marriage, thank goodness, used to do this to get his stew... Just heard the story this weekend.

Later,
Dan

 

[WTA]

Possums are something else. My walker treed one several years ago and I shot it. I used a 12 gauge with number 4 shot and most of the pellets hit it. That thing fell probably 30 feet through the tree and my son carried it slung ver his shoulder about a half mile back to the truck and put it in the back. By then the dog was howling with something else up a tree so we went to get that one and when we came back the possum was gone. We were out in the middle of nowhere and noone took it. Now tell me how tough them things are.

When we had skunk problems in Corpus Christi the local animal control loaned me a trap and told me to shoot them when I caught them because a lot had been found with rabies in that area back then.
I did as I was told and a few months later when we weren't catching any more I called the animal control guy and asked if he wanted the trap back yet and he asked if there was anything left of it. I had to say not much but it still works as long as the critter is bigger than a fox squirrel. Anything smaller can go through the holes in it. He said just keep it and wasn't mad. That was nice.

Have you all seen that show on the one of the health channels about rabies yet? It showed a bunch of people that got rabies and what the treatment is after you start showing symptoms. Rather how they chain the people to a bed and let them die slowly whle they foam at the mouth and try to tear apart anyone that comes near them. Not a pretty way to go. I'll bet anyone seeing that won't be so nice to the next skunk they see.

 

[wushaw]

A friend of mine had a Skunk hanging around his barn once so I told him to find his hole and he did then I told him to fill the hole with enough dirt and mound it up so he can't dig out before he expires...he did and that fixed his Skunk problem....no need to remove a buried skunk.

This method will not work with Armidillos...

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

If you have a pond, put the havahart by the pond and tie a 50 ft rope on it. When you catch the skunk, drag the cage (by the rope) into the water.

Or, use an ATV to slowly chase them away (if you can catch them outside) and just drive him away a bit and shoot him. Try to get at least 1/4 mile or more away from the house.

 

[Egon]

Sorry for the lack of exact information but I did mean a gasoline burning vehicle.

 

[4720 OWNER]

They have a series of 4 shots in the arm for rabies, if treated promptly (key word).

Liquid smoke for skunk spray, which is a protein, so tenderizer would work as well, but unless it is a lab, your dog may not like the meat mallet part of it.

Skunks like many rodents cannot regurgitate from its stomach. Frozen bread dough eaten goes into a nice warm moist enviroment and rises and rises and... you get the idea. Breaded from the inside out. Safe for other critters to eat as well.

 

[N80]

I don't like the idea of poison. Too many other things you don't want to kill can get into meat laced with poison.

The skunks around my place and my neighbors farm are endless. Killing one or two or twelve just doesn't help.

Whatever you do, if you get the one out of the pump house, just make sure there is no way for another one to get back in.

Now, if you lived nearby I'd have the solution. My neighbor has a German Shepard and some type of Australian shepard/cattle dog/mut neither of which is scared of a skunk. They kill about one a week. Don't ask me how, don't ask me why. But they do it. I do know they work as a team. And they get sprayed from nose to tail every time. They just don't seem to mind. Never seen anything like it.

And while this might sound like a soultion to a one skunk problem, it is not a solution to the skunk population. They kill the skunks at night, right in the back yard. During nice weather, when the windows are open, the smell will literally run you out of the house.

And the two dogs reek of skunk more times than not.

Like I say, if you were nearby I'm sure my neighbor would let you borrow them. But he might not let you bring them back.

 

[Manitou]

Good evening..........I just read about your skunk problem and it made me recall that a skunk had crawled under our cottage many years ago. My father had me go to the hardware store and buy chloride of lime. We spread it around the perimeter of the cottage and the skunk left and did not return. I still don't know what chloride of lime is, but it worked! Garry

 

[deereguy]

I had a widow lady customer a number of years ago that live trapped (havahart) a skunk then didn't know what to do with it. She called the "lawn guy" (me) and asked if I would take care of it. Not wanting to scare it, I did what Redbud said (except I didn't use a tarp), placed it in the back of the pickup and we went for a ride to the local park. I assume it lived happily ever after.

A few years previous to that I went out in the barn and a little skunk was eating cat food (just like it had done everyday that summer), I went into the barn, not thinking that "Peppy" might be there, and I scared it, it scared me ....I got sprayed! My grandfather said they will stomp their feet before they spray, that was the last thing I remember before that tail came up. A few showers later I smelled "better".

Good Luck!!