Live Trap recommendations

It’s come to my attention recently that we have a lot of skunks. And I mean A LOT. Skunks on the doorstep at night, skunks running in the ditches on the way to town, skunks trying to get in the cat house at dusk. Skunks here, skunks there, skunks everywhere. Now if I wanted a skunk farm, this would be a wonderful opportunity, but I do not.

So what does everyone use for trapping skunks and other pests?

We purchased a two-pack of live traps from our local feed store a few years back. They work great for everything from feral cats to raccoons - depending on the bait, of course.

A quickly accessible firearm is a good thing, too.

Peavy Mart and Princess Auto carry them. I don't know what you'd bait a skunk with?
A pretty black an white female cat maybe?

Lol.

And what do you DO once you've trapped the skunk??

heda gobbler wrote:And what do you DO once you've trapped the skunk??

That's kinda what I was thinking. I don't think I would want to face a p*ssed off skunk in a trap!

I think guns are the only way to go. So glad we live in a place without racoons or skunks. At least the grizzlies don't hang around the chicken coop!

heda gobbler wrote:And what do you DO once you've trapped the skunk??

Stand very far away and ponder that exact thought.

i think Susan knows? Or am I thinkng the other Susan with the crossbow?

I heard, but cannot confirm, that you approach a trapped skunk slowly, holding an old bedsheet up infront of yourself. The thought being that if they do not SEE you, they do not spray you. And then you carefully drop the sheet over the trap, pick up the covered skunk, and release it at your neighbour's place.

But do not take my word for this, research it more!

coopslave wrote:

heda gobbler wrote:And what do you DO once you've trapped the skunk??

That's kinda what I was thinking. I don't think I would want to face a p*ssed off skunk in a trap!

I wouldn't "face" any trapped skunk either, not without a riot shield.

To be me a nimby, please don't release it anywhere near me. We have people doing that all the time, drive to the mountains with their problems (racoons, skunks) and make them my problem by letting the go in the "country". Put them down, don't pass the probem on.

Hehe. Pepe Le Pew was one of my favorite characters as a kid.

Well, I did find one at our local Co-op, but it looks kinda flimsy for $69 plus tax. Anyone ever heard of the brand name “Take’em Alive”? Hmm. Think I’m going to wait until our next city trip and try Peavey Mart or Princess Auto. Thanks for the suggestion.

heda gobbler wrote:And what do you DO once you've trapped the skunk??

Oh, don’t worry, I got that part covered. Eldest son has a fancy new .22 he’s eager to “test” out.

I use a solid humane skunk trap. Other than the front door to let the skunk into the trap, the whole thing is solid. You can pick the trap up with the skunk in it, safely. Best bait I've found is dry cat food then wet. Real stinky is good as skunks locate food by odor rather than site.

Once trapped, I let mine go in a nearby nature reserve. If the animal is healthy, I will not kill it.

To release a skunk, just open the door and let him come out. In all the releases I've done, I've never been sprayed. THe skunk is usually so glad to get out, the moment it's free it will take off as far away from you as it can go.

We go ours at Princess Auto and it works great. If you want to drown them then enclose most of the trap in a heavy garbage bag once caught then you just take trap to water and drown. Or just shoot it.

BCKev, I hope you know I was kidding! Like you, we have dealt with an endless supply of critters that were 'released' here, or dumped here. Some alive, some dead. We do not pass our problems on.

uno wrote:I heard, but cannot confirm, that you approach a trapped skunk slowly, holding an old bedsheet up infront of yourself. The thought being that if they do not SEE you, they do not spray you. And then you carefully drop the sheet over the trap, pick up the covered skunk, and release it at your neighbour's place.

But do not take my word for this, research it more!

That's what Billy the Exterminator does. My large child is a fan of Billy.

I know you know better uno, but obvioulsy based on both of our experiences not every one does. I don't need any of those types of critters taking up home in my neck of the woods, I have enough of the two legged stinky kind.

I discovered a new live trap method recently.

Have a cat create an opening in the skirting of your trailer, preferably without you knowing. Who doesn't love the element of surprise?! Then, have skunk enter the nice little home said cat has made for him under your house. Send said cat in to block the entrance at 4:00 a.m. (because hey that's the most convenient time to catch a skunk).

Yeah, you can figure out the rest.... I may have to burn my house down.

Once you have trapped one ,approach it with a dark blanket etc that you don't like to much ,I'll explaine that soon enough ,and cover the trap and leave it alone for a few moments so that the skunk settles down .Now the thing to remeber is that a LARGE skunk will fill a live trap nicely and that means it can't raise it's tail ! A small skunk will raise it's tail if alarmed so a word of caution there .If you catch a small one ,throw some water onto it to completely drench it ! They can't lift there tails that easily when it's wet ( to much hair for the amount of power it takes to lift a wet tail ) Lift the cage up slowly making sure that the trap remains hidden within the dark blanket ,Lift it only a few inchs off the ground to not allow to much light to get in .Now I gas mine ,it's fast ,no smell and it takes only minutes .I bring the cage close to my truck ,get a 4"flex hose ( or what ever you have that will go over the exhaust pipe )and put this under the blanket ,making sure that it's nicely wraped in the blanket to not allow any gas to escape to easily .After about ten nimutes it's done , no smell .....and they will spray if you shot them ,just a reflex action ,I have shoot enough to know that they will raise that tail ...unless they are caught outside in a shower that is .I cleaned up a lot last year and only one sprayed ( small one ) which I ended up drowning in a barrel ,not what I had planned ,but it was pissed and it had sprayed a bit once already so I didn't want to gamble with the cage being totally defunked !

Flicker you can buy live traps specifically for skunks where they can easily walk into it with their tail naturally down and once the trap door shuts, the space is too small for it to raise its tail. This makes approaching the trap a non-issue.

We use sardines to lure them in.

Good luck!

We used Live Metal Traps , and Caught the whole family of skunks . And Released them alive with no one getting sprayed . They weren't even covered when my dad put them in the back of the truck , he just told them if they don't spray him , he would spare there lives , and it worked .,,
I think they came to our place becasue of the smell of rotten eggs . So thats what I used to catch them , was the stinkiest eggs from the incubator . The skunks loved them . Skunks are bad for digging in your pens , and cleaning out all the eggs your hens have layed . They never killed any birds this time around just lots of nest of eggs .

for the tips everyone.


Oh blackdove, I feel for you and the cat. Lol At our previous farm we had a skunk burrow under the front porch that must have sprayed itself when defending from a predator. Man oh man. I woke up in the middle of the night eyes burning, throat tingling, thinking the house was on fire! It was so overpowering. Awful, awful smell.