We used to live on a ravine lot in the city. Behind the house was 17 acres of municipal woodlot. Lots of coons and skunks. Neighbour was live trapping coons and transplanting them out of the area.
One hot summer morning he went out and found a skunk in the trap. Since we were in the city we couldn't shoot it. He called an animal control person and asked him to come out. He couldn't make it for two or three hours so we sat around waiting. During this time the skunk was pacing back and forth in the cage. By the time the animal control guy got there the skunk was dead. The a.c guy told us that skunks have a very high metabolism rate and that during hot weather, if left alone, they would work themselves up to the point they would roll over and die.
When weather conditions weren't favourable he suggested putting a cover over the cage and very, very gently moving the cage into the back of a pickup. He then took them to a gravel pit and opened one end of the cage so the skunk could get out. A 12 ga. finished the project.
I can understand why they want a big dollar for these removals.
Jim
