I caught a skunk

[Jess Tolbirt]

I caught this pole cat in my live trap... i have a tarp over the trap and can let the critter out with ropes i have attached to the door to stand back and raise it,,, questin is,,can a skunk spray while in a trap if he cant raise his tail?,, i need to dipose of him and was thinking about taking him out into the woods and letting him go,,,other than that i could just bust a cap in his butt but really dont want to kill him....
what would you do?

[R J]

Put him out of his misery.........  & be done with your problem.

[Jess from VA]

Send him to Washington.  A perfect mascot.

[PAVALKER]

I have my trap out and dread the thought of catching a skunk.  A friend caught one and it died as a direct result of lead poisoning, but it let loose his rath of odor prior to passing.  The next one he caught he just let die a natural death, without food or water.... took almost a week I think.   So the answer to your question is... YES they can spray and probably will I think.  Let the tarp and sun, and also the lack of food/water do it's thing. 

[FLAVALK]

My brother had one hanging around his house and decided to best thing to do would be shoot it in the head with his .22 magnum. So, he loaded up hollow points, took careful aim and nailed him with a clean shot. Dang near took the skunks head off!

However, the the last thing Pepe Le Pew did before leaving this earth was pee. 

[Madmike]

When I was a kid I lived on the west coast just North of Vancouver and we had lots of civit cats around there - black and white and stink like a skunk.  They would come around the house in the winter months seeking dry shelter.  We had a little Terrier dog that would go after them and they would defend themselves as best they could with their scent.  My Dad was always away working and so I would try and deter them - sometimes with the same result that the dog got.  

What worked the best was to trap them in a closed box - my Dad's old US Army AF footlocker worked real good for this.  I would take the box and prop the lid open with a short stick, then run a wire from the stick to the back hinge on the lid and put a piece of bacon rind on the middle of the wire.  I would provide a step for the civit cats to get in the footlocker - Japanese orange boxes worked well, then when they were in the footlocker and pulled on the bacon rind they would pull the stick out and the lid would close.  They never blasted their scent when they were inside the closed box.  You could then pick up the closed box and take it away.  I would take them out to the bush and wrap a rope around the box get back and give it a mighty heave to roll the box and the cat would come out then I would "dispose" of them with my 20 gauge.

Personally I would never intentionally leave any 4 legged animal in a trap to starve as they are just doing what they need to do to survive as best they can - I agree that some 2 legged ones are fully deserving this type of treatment.  Worst come to worst poisoning them with antifreeze may be a kinder alternative.

[Yeah, Just Dale]

It won't spray in the cage unless it knows it has a target. It will hiss and growl and stamp feet and gernerally act ferocious but otherwise leave you alone if it can't see you and you aren't hurting it. Take it out to the woods somewhere, put the cage down, back away and open the door. It will walk out and scurry away. No need to kill it. Skunks are pretty much harmless.

[Scott in Ok]

Not that I condone such treatment, but one option would be to slide a hose in under the tarp and connect the other end to the exhaust on your vehicle.  No mess, and no stink.

-Scott

[Scott in Ok]

No need to kill it. Skunks are pretty much harmless.

You've obviously never had your dog sprayed by a skunk, and then come running in the house, rolling around on the carpet.  LOL
 

Been there, done that.  The only good skunk is a dead skunk.

-Scott

[Yeah, Just Dale]

And you never had a skunk as a pet. They are gentle, intelligent animals. If you can live trap it, you can release it into the wild unharmed.

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

I have a infection going on at my place I've shot ( 2 ) and we saw another one when we came home last night . The key is to pre-dig the grave and know where the shovel is. Go for a head shot and bury immediately. I don't care for skunks at all but I'd never leave anything to strave to death. I use # 2 shot in my Remington Model 870 Wingmaster and use tuna for bait.Skunks and raccons are the number one rabies carrier in Tennessee so when they start hangin' out at my place I deal with it.

[Jess Tolbirt]

I found out that if you move slow and easy if the skunk does not feel threatened it will not spray...
i took him out to the lake in the woods and turned him loose...
Bev would cut my jewels off if i was to harm him and i really didnt want to kill him...
skunks will keep rodents away from your place and really are harmless if not threatened but if your dog starts messin with them then he is gonna get it...

well as i see it thats one down and two to go,,(mama and papa) I think mama is solid white with just a black speck on her head,, this would lead me to believe that she is or was someones pet as i read on the skunk sites,, pet or not i have had enough skunks spray around here...
thanks for all the replies,,,
now to go for a ride,,,,

[Highbinder]

A skunk needs to set his hind legs and lift his tail to fire, he has 6 scent sacks and can use everyone of them, but he has to be in the set position...simply leave him covered put the cage in the back of a pickup and take it to the woods and release him...not so hard to do.

[Jess Tolbirt]

thats exactly the way i did it... but when i opened the cage he didnt want to leave,, guess he liked the food,,,