Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Trapping Bait for Skunk

I've got a skunk living under my deck in the back yard. My plan is to catch it in a live trap then shoot it with a .22 L/R from far enough away that I don't get sprayed. Is that a good plan?

What do I use for bait?

KC

I've been baiting the ones down by the creek with cheap canned cat food and dry dog food.

If you've got an old blanket, cover the trap when you set and bait it. It will help keep the little stinker calm after he is caught.

Skunks dont seem to be picky on what they eat.

A wooden box with slots cut for conibear springs is what you need. Anything stinky should get them there. 5 gallon bucket will work well too!

Cheap Canned Sardines . . .

Good bait and you can eat the rest for a snack!

Dry dog food will work just fine. If you have some new Preston anti-freeze (green), put some in a bowl near the food. You won't have to shoot him but he might die under your porch but he won't spray either. Anti-freeze is sweet smelling and kills dogs and cats dead.

Ken

Anti-freeze is a hideous way for any creature to die. I lost my Norwegian Elkhound when a neighbor put a pail of it over my fence.
And yes, a skunk will spray when poisend that way, mutiple times, over two or three days after the convulsions set in.
I wouldn't wish that kind of death on the coon that bit me.

Sorry to hear about your Elkhound. That is a beautiful dog. Was your neighbor charged for the death ?

Ken

He was charged with Criminal Damage to Property and paid for the possible four years of stud fees.
Believe me, he paid dearly. Merlin had his TD, TDX and UDVST by 25 months and was working towards his SAR certification.

Glad the SOB paid, but I'm thinkin' there ought to have been an azz-whoopin' in there, too.

Won't ask if he got that.

Damned shame to lose a great dog that way. Hopefully, his replacement is every bit the equal.

Cat food is a favorite.....however....prepared to have your bait picked clean and any type of humane/havaheart type trap unsprung. They are alot smarter than usually given credit for and can be tough to nail by any method other than the aforementioned conibear. Also a GREAT carrier of the RABIES virus so take all necessary precautions. And that sweet stink they cut loose carries the rabies virus as well so avoid the spray.......

Anything that stinks. Cat food, sardines, or even hamburger meat.

Now that's one I was unaware of. All the more reason to thin them around here.

I googled that and found that you cannot get rabies from skunk spray.

Tell that to a herd of cattle in the northeastern panhandle of WV. 8 were euthanized and confirmed positive. The entire herd was destroyed at that point.......why you ask? Well there is NO DOCUMENTED HORIZONTAL TRANSMISSION OF THE RABIES VIRUS IN RUMINANTS. Horizontal transmission would be cow to cow. The skunk was confirmed positive and the point source of infection. Trust me......you do NOT want to argue with me on the rabies thing. Just had confirmed positive number 2 skunk from my locale today.....

We have a HUGE rabies problem in my area with 3 herds of animals quarantined in the last 12 months.....yes HERDS...

Check with the CDC and they'll confirm the spray carries the virus particles.

Even more fun.....goggle Plum Island NY

Put a golf ball in the trap and spray it with wd-40

Lure him out with a drag trail using Ingwe's undies.

Don't know what prompted me to click on this...

But I did!!


Just don't take my leopard thong!!!

Ingwe

Ha! I was wondering when you'd find this.