GTA
General Discussion To Gateway To Airguns => Hunting Gate => : atchman2 March 08, 2010, 01:47:35 PM
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After another smelly morning I've decided the skunks are going down! No, I'm not shooting them instead I'm using my superior knowledge of "composting" to lure them into my newest toy-a Skunk trap! To treat my GTA buds, I've also posted the Game Camera in front of it on video mode so you can watch the action! I'm betting I capture that stupid grey cat first!
I've been pondering adding a new business doing wild animal control. I thought I would start getting some traps and practicing on my neighbors before I take it prime time. I'm researching how to get the proper permits and licenses. In the meantime, I'm going to trap my own yard for awhile.
The Skunks are going over to the park or out in that abandoned subdivision, but I'm just going to let anything else go; to keep my fall hunting prospects intact!
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Cool trap.... looks large enough for a whole family of stinkers :)
Jeff
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Looks like a a good one! Could be a stink bomb LOL
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Ah shucks Atchman2, around here I call skunk smell “Lagarto Perfume†(lagarto is the community I live in). You just got to relearn yourself. :o When you smell a polecat, ask yourself what could stink worst?
I can’t think of anything worst. :0
Neat looking trap. The best bait I have found for skunks is raw eggs, cracked open in a cat food can.
Let us know how it works out.
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Well I just let out Chip the Wonder Dog and the entire backyard smells heavily of SKUNK! I'm going to assume that I caught one and I'll go down there in the morning. So much for the trap not allowing them to spray!
Anyway, I'll see in the morning when it gets light.
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Well let us know what you find. When I would occasionaly catch one in my fox sets I would shoot them in the back of the head, close to the bottom of the skull. It was 50/50 chance they would spray. Some of them would just roll over with hardly any smell, I imagine just normal skunk smell, and some would cut loose with the whole shabang. If the trap is going to let them spray, I say go to the air gun from the deck. Put then again, it's your backyard and not mine.
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Randy,
You might want to find out how far away they need to be taken. If not far enough, many furry critters find their way back to "their" territory.
Paul.
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Justtwo question Paul. Who is going to carry the skunk trapped in the trap and who's vehicle are they going to use to transport it?...:) Also who is the one going to release the skunk?...:)
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Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
Good questions! Ones that I hadn't thought to ask... :O
LOL!
:D
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Interesting looking trap. What is the size of the trap. Cannot tell by the photo.
As far as what to do when you have a trapped skunk, we have trapped many skunks and none have ever sprayed. Actually they are fairly docile creatures. Have transported them and carried them around with no problems. Just in case, do not put them IN your car or in the trunk. And, it is best to for you to remain calm( no screaming or yelling ) and keep a small tarp to cover them. It helps to keep them calm,
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I think I would rather trap rattle snakes and transport them rather than a skunk.. hehe
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I was going to ask the same questions as Gene. Normally they don't spray, but I have heard sometimes they do.
I bet what happened was, your dog went to the trap and aggrevated the skunk and caused it to spray. You have to try and keep the dog away from the trap somehow. Maybe walk it in the morning away from it to let it go to the bathroom and check the trap after you bring him back into the house.
I can't wait for the video! :)
PS.
It looks like it would be hard to tell what's inside that tube other than a skunk. I would not look through that 1 little hole in the front (even if you could see through it in the dark). A spray of some nasty stuff could come out of it and into your eye! hehehe. Does it have a spot where there might be some glass you can look through to identify the critter inside?
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I've actually captured timber rattlers and copperheads. It's not a particularly tough thing. They too are pretty docile once you bag them. Personally, I keep the bag at arms length, but the old pros were pretty cavalier.
I'd much rather catch poisonous snakes than skunks, I think.
M
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Gene,
Not me .... I'll be too busy running the other way !!!! :D
My neighbor traps all the ones we get around here and releases them miles from here in state land. He gets one or two each year and he's been doing it since he moved here in 1977 without any problems.
He says he learned how from his close friend who is a trained naturalist and ran a nearby State nature preserve for many years.
What he told me he learned, and works for him......
He insists you have to use a small trap that the Skunk can just barely fit into. Any larger and it can move round enough to spray.
Also, move very, very SLOOOOOWLY any time the Skunk can see you.
Once a Skunk is in the trap, he would hold a blanket opened out at arms length in front of him as he slowly approched the trap and compleatly covers the trap with the blanket. He said Skunks don't like being out in daylight and that calms the Skunk right down.
Then, still moving slowly, put the blanket covered trap in the car. Keep the trap compleatly covered at all times.
To release, place the trap well away from the car. Preferably near the edge of woods. Reach under the blanket and open the trap door. Then slowly slide the blanket off as you back away from the trap moving in the oposite direction from the trap door - taking the blanket with you.
Once the trap is opened and uncovered, as long as the Skunk does not feel threatened, it will run off into the woods to find cover. Then you can go back and get the trap.
The Skunk is more scared of you than you of it. They only spray as a last resort. They will try to face down what they think is a threat by making short little charges a foot or so toward you and stamping their feet first.
I watched a PBS special on Skunks recently. They interviewed a gal who does alot of the trapping on Martha's Vinyard (over run with Skunks) and, sure enough, she was doing exactly the same thing as my friend said he does.
Paul.
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Okay, so here is the result of my first try. I could smell Skunk strongly last night! When it got light I went down to check the trap. It was obvious that I had something last night, but it wasn't there this morning. It had rolled the trap and sprang the door. The game camera must have been too far away to catch the action because I got nothing on it either.
Atchman's (Skunkmans?) Lessons learned:
1) Make sure you brace the trap so it doesn't turn over.
2) Expired cookie dough must be great skunk bait
3) Consult your friends and actually have a plan if you catch one! :D
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only1harry - 3/9/2010 8:42 AM
I was going to ask the same questions as Gene. Normally they don't spray, but I have heard sometimes they do.
I bet what happened was, your dog went to the trap and aggrevated the skunk and caused it to spray. You have to try and keep the dog away from the trap somehow. Maybe walk it in the morning away from it to let it go to the bathroom and check the trap after you bring him back into the house.
I can't wait for the video! :)
PS.
It looks like it would be hard to tell what's inside that tube other than a skunk. I would not look through that 1 little hole in the front (even if you could see through it in the dark). A spray of some nasty stuff could come out of it and into your eye! hehehe. Does it have a spot where there might be some glass you can look through to identify the critter inside?
I can't see how you would tell what was in it too easily. Possumzilla would have been as big as the trap! Unless it is a small coon or possum, I don't know how they would get in it and get trapped. Their tail alone would keep the door from closing all the way.
This trap is designed only for skunks. They can't raise their tails to spray. I'm figuring that the smell from last night was because he turned the trap over and was scared. The trap didn't smell at all when I picked it up!
Chip the Wonder Dog and I both have a healthy respect for Skunks! He has been sprayed enough to not even want to go outside when he smells them. On the other hand he has no fear of possums, cats, or raccoons. I've seen him corner a possum as big as he is and hold him until I got there. To bad he could care less about squirrels. I'd think he would be a good squirrel dog, but there are so many he just ignores them. Chip is starting to get older so he doesn't have the high energy of most Jack Russels.
I've been pondering getting another dog, more for hunting like a Cur. They are versatile and almost perfect for the type of hunting I want to do. In the meantime Chip the Wonder Dog can live the rest of his life at my feet where he sleeps day and night :)
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sweet trap ,you have the right idea "dont shoot em"it would be a 'stinky situation' lol :emoticon:
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JRT's are ruthless hunters, but mostly for burrowing beasts and rats (as I'm sure you know). That and coons. They seem to HATE raccoons.
I once lived with one. The owner (my gf) didn't understand that they are a working breed and need to hunt. Not letting them chase down critters makes them neurotic, I think. Anyway, I have always wanted to do the whole radio collar and shovel hunt thing with JRT's, but I've never had the opportunity.
Glad that you get out with yours occasionally, even if you aren't sending him down a hole.
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" ..........Chip is starting to get older so he doesn't have the high energy of most Jack Russels. ......."
My late hunting partner had a very small one for many years. "Willy" went everywhere with him ... except hunting. I once asked why. He said the darned dog couldn't stay out of the woodchuck borrows. Got stuck in one and he had to go all the way back home to get a shovel and dig the dog out !!!
Took him with us once when checking/replacing posted signs just before deer season. We spent most of the time yelling to get the dog to come back and stay by the ATV. Finally a bad thunder storm came up, we hopped on the ATV, and the "brave" little thing climbed inside my camo jacket while we were racing to get off the hills. The little guy feared nothing on this earth, .... but anything coming out of the sky was another matter !!!! :D
Paul.
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good luck! it looks like that trap could easily be made out of some PVC pipe, some metal, and some enginuity lol. but if you didnt have a game camera or something, how would you know what you caught?
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Nice looking huge tube trapper....hope it works for you.
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Those trap's will do just fine, he can't see the danger so he shouldn't spray........hopefully. :o :) Ed
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if we don't hear from atchman tomorrow it is because he's swimming in lemon peals :D
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I always heard to use tomato juice. Either one sounds just as bad as the other. :0
I used hydrogen peroxide and baking soda mixture on a dog before. It did a pretty good job at removing the odor, only smelled the skunk smell when the dog got wet.
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I put the trap out again. This time I braced it with bricks so it won't roll. I've also driven in a stake nearby to hang the game camera out.
The bait tonight is hot dogs. Now I've trapped a couple of raccoons with hot dogs as bait before. Hopefully one of those guys don't crawl in the trap!
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Just went down there and the trap is sprung! I'm going to grab the video camera and take a look. The Game Camera ran out of batteries last night so I don't have any idea what is in the trap!
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You are a font of entertaiment!
Seriously, I'm getting a real kick out of your activities (and the blow by blow).
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I'm trying to upload the video now! Check back here in about 10 minutes and I'll have it ready. :)
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http://dxsinc.com/httpdocs/first%20skunk%20trap_0001.wmv
You can here my wife and I arguing about the best way to let it go, open the trap, etc.
You can also tell why wives shouldn't be allowed to operate sophisticated "man" equipment. ROFL
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cool video
entertaining as always
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That was funny! You looked like a bomb technician walking up to the thing! The suspense was killing me :)
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Great stuff Randy...:) Give us some more...:)
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Gene_SC - 3/10/2010 1:44 PM
Great stuff Randy...:) Give us some more...:)
You guys are just like my wife....you want to see me sprayed by a skunk!!! :D
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Just pass on the "Scratch 'n' Sniff" video!!
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atchman2 - 3/10/2010 2:29 PM
Gene_SC - 3/10/2010 1:44 PM
Great stuff Randy...:) Give us some more...:)
You guys are just like my wife....you want to see me sprayed by a skunk!!! :D
Sure that's why we check in ;-) LOL Great video ! Thanks!
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great stuff....i'm glad im not the only that has skunk problems....lol....great vid and story...keep them comin...i even showed the wife and she got a kick out of it........thanx for postn......
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Better than prime-time TV.
We want more! :p
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great video! im suprised you got that close lol
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I love it !!! The wife showed no fear, you on the other hand....LOL
Wouldn't be asking you to clear a home w/ me.
Great stuff...thanks for sharing.
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She is a farm girl and a tomboy. She is more of an outdoors person than I am! She also had four brothers so she isn't really afraid of anything. I still think she was conspiring to get me SPRAYED!!!!
Tonight the air is THICK with Odor de PUY! I plugged in the spotlight and it wasn't the trap.
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No joy today. They were spraying all over the neighborhood, but I didn't catch anything. I'm going for cat food and hot dogs tonight for bait! Leftover pork chops didn't work.
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Getting a kick out of reading your posts....
I have had bad skunk problems here before. I found best bait for trap is watermelon and cantaloupe rinds, and tuna fish that had been opened and left out to get real stinky. They cannot seem to leave the watermelon rinds alone, gets em every time.
The best way I found to get rid of them is to pull the trap into a ditch with a rope and hold it under the water. Then just bury the critter. If they manage to spray, it has been under the water and I did not smell anything. Of course, this only works if you have a ditch or creek nearby.
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I didn't bait the trap last night, but today I have all sorts of leftover goodies from the table. Hot dogs and small saugages are my favorite bait. We'll see about it in the morning.