ALL YOU NIGHT HUNTERS GATHER ROUND--

[ray1377]

I have a problem that I need some help how to solve.
I've got a really good bait/camera station set up in the very back of my yard.
Its been drawing somewhere between 2 and 4 coons almost nightly.
I've got an old chicken pen thats made out of chainlink fence wire.
I usually put the bait (cat food--dog food--table scraps) just inside the wire up next to the sides.
This keeps the neighbors dogs from eating it up before the coons arrive.
My problem is  SKUNKS!!!!!!!
I have at least 5 coming around and they, believe it or not can slide right through the chainlink fence and get "inside" the pen.
When they do this, they eat all the table scraps and usually turn over the trays with cat/dog food in them and then the coons have a hard time
reaching through the wire to get to the food.
I just finished building a .22 disco pistol especially for taking these coons out.
And I don't want the skunks to ruin everything by messing up what the coons are coming there for.
Any ideas on how to keep skunks away but "KEEP" the coons coming?
I've heard if you put moth balls around that skunks won't come around them.
But I don't want to do anything that will keep the coons away.
Can I build some kind of skunk proof feeder??
I really need your helps fellows.
I've been working on this set up for a month and a half just to get a shot at these coons.
I"ve included a picture of what I'm talking about so you can better understand my problem.
Thanks Ray

[shadow]

The only thing I can say is that you may have to drop the skunk's to stop em. I know there's a possible stink aftermath but that will fade and the Bandit's don't mind it, just clothes pin your sniffer . You could try the mothball's if all else fails but the taste of free food is hard to resist. Ed

[Bogey]

You, my friend,  have a heck of a problem.   How do  discourage one and not the other.
You could of course set live traps and  rid yourself of the one you don't want.  And keep the one you want.
Doubt that there is anyway to keep the skunks away except trap or shoot.

We, my son and others,  have been waging a war against skunks for several years.   And now we have as many skunks as ever.

Keep us posted.

[ray1377]

Oh believe me I know all about shooting a skunk.
I shot one about two weeks ago around 8:30 at night.
I dropped it in its tracks at 26 yds.
7.9grain hollowpoint right between the eyes.
But then I got a lesson in animal science.
when you hit a skunk in the head, they're nervous system takes over and they "twitch" or flench until they are completely dead.
Well everytime this guys body "twitched" his butthole sprayed!!!!!!!!!!!!
And about 5 or 6 seconds of that and you got one helluva mess.
I had to use one of the SCBA's from the firestation to keep from throwing up.
And I put it in 2 trashbags and threw it away.
I'll NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!
And buddy, they stick for days even after they are dead.
So that idea is out of the question in my book.
If they didn't stink when you shot them, it would be fun.
Anymore ideas?
Ray

[djmyers]

Thats hilarious that they spray till they are completely dead. I will definatly think twice or make sure he's in the neighbors yard before I pull the trigger on a skunk. As for the problem with the skunks I got no ideas that havent been posted.

[atchman2]

I bought a skunk trap.  They are too small for the other critters to get into except for possums!  Now to be honest I haven't caught any skunks yet, but I have high hopes!    

Skunks are always fair game in TN, however the possum and raccoon seasons are over.  Unless they become a pest by getting in my house or vandalizing something, they are off limits until the fall.  

[shadow]

As mentioned you could trap it but in most state's you need a permit to relocate it etc. etc.. I think that the game dept. would rather have it put down then running loose though. Ed

[ray1377]

Thats fine with me.
I could trap it and take it way down in the bottom and when I release it just blast it with my mossberg.
I don't have a problem shooting them.
In fact that one I shot under the birdfeeder was sorta moving at a short gate and when I hammered him between the eyes
his nose buried up in the dirt when he came to a skidding halt.
But it still didn't stop his butthole from working for a few seconds more.
Thats the problem, the smell that I DON"T want in my backyard.
Does that sound inhumane?
From what all I've read on the net, they would rather you kill them than to let them go somewhere else
for fear of rabies being spread.
I think I can build a trap, with all the info I've found on them posted on the net.
Ray

[gamo2hammerli]

That sure looks like a Catch 22 problem right there!!!!

[lil'feeby]

If you catch a skunk in a live trap, will they spray when you approach the trap? If they will then you might as well shoot em.

[atchman2]

Yes, they will spray.  You need a tarp or something and approach them slowly. Just tarp them over and you are safe-in theory

[lil'feeby]

think i would just give the lil bugger some high speed lead poisoning to the fusebox from a distance. I would in no way want to be close to a skunk when it sprayed, not enough Old Spice in the state for that one..

[James]

Hello im new to forum sorry to hear of your problem with the little stinky fellows my name is Jim I live in florida I come from new York originally and have seen my share of skunks in the mountains where I used to hunt and a fair amount of coons get the food off the ground and build  a small bridge to the feeder area with a large enough span of empty space so skunks cant reach food coons are allot bigger and are quite smart and figure things out pretty good especially where food is prize. my thought here is make it physically impossible for skunks  to get to food while letting the coons work a little for it either way its better then stinking up the neiborhood good luck

[crowpopper]

shoot him in the base of head / neck
if he is paralyzed he cant twitch which means he cant spray
they spray with a gland so the stick wont leak out if ur careful
i did it and it worked befor but u need a precice shot
i used a 22 lr and cci stingers it ripped his neck in half Dead instantly no twitch

[JimH]

What about a gut shot to send them running off to die somewhere else? or is that too cruel?