# Trapped Critter



## Davarm

I dont exactly where this post would fit so I decided to put it here,

I NEED SOME HELP, FAST!

For the past month I have had "Critters" under my house so I set a box trap by the hole they kept digging and I got him. A skunk, the problem now is what to do with him.

Any Suggestions? He's pretty pi$$ed off and I am not about to get close enough to haul him off and turn him loose. I did have the foresight tie a 50 foot rope to the trap just in case it was a skunk and I have dragged the trap away from the house but I am not going to just let him starve to death. I dont fault an animal for just doing what an animal does and I am actually fairly fond of skunks, raised a bunch of em when I was a kid.

I called the County Animal Control Officer to see if they would haul him off and was told that all they would do is just come and shoot him, dont want do that either.

I will shoot him if I have no other choice, I dont like to kill what I am not going to eat and I WILL NOT EAT A SKUNK, not at this point in time anyway. 

Any suggestions.


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## oldvet

Davarm said:


> I dont exactly where this post would fit so I decided to put it here,
> 
> I NEED SOME HELP, FAST!
> 
> For the past month I have had "Critters" under my house so I set a box trap by the hole they kept digging and I got him. A skunk, the problem now is what to do with him.
> 
> Any Suggestions? He's pretty pi$$ed off and I am not about to get close enough to haul him off and turn him loose. I did have the foresight tie a 50 foot rope to the trap just in case it was a skunk and I have dragged the trap away from the house but I am not going to just let him starve to death. I dont fault an animal for just doing what an animal does and I am actually fairly fond of skunks, raised a bunch of em when I was a kid.
> 
> I called the County Animal Control Officer to see if they would haul him off and was told that all they would do is just come and shoot him, dont want do that either.
> 
> I will shoot him if I have no other choice, I dont like to kill what I am not going to eat and I WILL NOT EAT A SKUNK, not at this point in time anyway.
> 
> Any suggestions.


i would suggest that you get yourself a large tub set it outside and get as much tomatoe juice as it takes for you to be able to completely wash yourself off with. Then strip down to a pair of shorts or swim trunks, cover your nose and and let it out of the trap. you have a 50/50 chance of not getting sprayed and if you do the tomatoe juice will "defunk" you.


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## Davarm

oldvet said:


> i would suggest that you get yourself a large tub set it outside and get as much tomatoe juice as it takes for you to be able to completely wash yourself off with. Then strip down to a pair of shorts or swim trunks, cover your nose and and let it out of the trap. you have a 50/50 chance of not getting sprayed and if you do the tomatoe juice will "defunk" you.


I beat you to the punch on that one, I just prefer to drink my tomato juice.


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## HozayBuck

*fill a tub with water under a tree limb.. toss the rope over the limb raise trap lower into water.. no smell.. yes it dies... sorry but you never know if it's infected or not..

I understand your POV on killing and not eating.. but sometimes you just gotta do what ya got to do... *


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## *Andi

Rabies and skunk go hand and hand around here, so be careful. I think HozayBuck plan would be the best ... (No head shots)

Oh ... and just so you know, I have a recipe for a vapor rub using lard from one skunk. eek and no I've never made or tried it but have heard it does work.


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## UncleJoe

*Andi said:


> I have a recipe for a vapor rub using lard from one skunk.


This is Andi's way of saying; "Hang on to it. I'll be down to pick it up tomorrow"


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## Davarm

I had thoughts along the line of Hozays, thats why I tied the rope to the cage and Andi, I think I could figure out the vapor rub without a recipe, and UncleJoe, if she really wants it, I could overnight it, I'm sure he'd really be in a bad mood by the time she got the box.

Im pretty sure i'm gonna have to just read him the riod act and ruin his day, the pity is that its gonna stink my garden up and I have alot of work to do in it this weekend.

Thanks guys


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## *Andi

UncleJoe said:


> This is Andi's way of saying; "Hang on to it. I'll be down to pick it up tomorrow"




:lolsmash::lolsmash::lolsmash:

Thanks for the smile ~ Well, to be honest LOL!!!


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## tsalam16

How about placing a tarp over the cage and dragging it off into the woods or somewhere and let it go?


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## Davarm

tsalam16 said:


> How about placing a tarp over the cage and dragging it off into the woods or somewhere and let it go?


Thats a thought, I would have to drag it for a few miles, thats where the closest tree is.

Seriously, I have thought about a tarp, to this point that is the best alternative to killing the critter.


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## mosquitomountainman

Shoot it and be done with it. If you use a 22, shoot it in the spine just below the head. You'll paralyze and kill it at the same time. If you shoot it in the head it will go through enough muscle twitching to shoot back at you. If you don't kill it, it will be back. Be careful with the carcass. They are common rabies carriers. 

I've killed quite a few in traps with a 22 and none sprayed. The hide might be worth something if you can find a buyer for it. In the old days, skunk oil was prized as a firearm lubricant. The skins are nice to use or sell. be careful skinning it. Too much pressure in the wrong place and it'll have it's revenge on you. If it's a bit on the smelly side just put it in a stream with running water and leave it a day or two. The water will wash the odor away.


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## Jason

I agree. I'm not much for killing for its own sake but nuisance animals get no mercy here. We've killed probably close to a dozen possums here over the winter, all with a .22 out of a bedroom winter. 

We had a chicken that got hurt pretty bad last year. Put it in its own cage hoping it would get better. I have no problem killing a chicken for food but this one looked like she'd recover and be able to resume laying eggs. Here overnight a critter (still don't know what) smelled the blood or whatever and forced its way into the main chicken pen, killing 3 more hens. I should have just dispatched the hurt hen in the first place, but from then on-any nuisance critter I catch on this farm does not stand a chance.


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## Davarm

mosquitomountainman said:


> The hide might be worth something if you can find a buyer for it. In the old days, skunk oil was prized as a firearm lubricant. The skins are nice to use or sell. be careful skinning it. Too much pressure in the wrong place and it'll have it's revenge on you. If it's a bit on the smelly side just put it in a stream with running water and leave it a day or two. The water will wash the odor away.


Yea, as a kid we ran trap lines and I have skinned a few skunks in my day, a good rinse in hydrogen peroxide will take the smell away pretty well. Beautiful, full pelts most with fur well set, however, dont much have the stomach for skinning any more. Thats what kids and grandkids are for.

As for that skunk oil, never really got around to harvesting any of it, mostly because I knew I would have to go to school the next day.

But, thanks for the input.


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## partdeux

If you can get the car anywhere close to it or drag the cage near the car, a dryer vent hooked to the exhaust will put it to sleep, permanently


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## Davarm

I thought you guys deserved an update on the "Trapped Critter". 

I guess I have gotten soft in my old age and couldnt bring myself to "pop" the guy. Instead I named him, "Ralph" and tamed him down slowly by feeding and watering him. He got pretty fond of "Tender Vittles" and "Starkist" tuna.

We developed a pretty good relationship so I made a cage out of rabbit wire and with a little planning, got him out of the trap and in it without much of a fuss. I am surprised at how even tempered the guy wound up being. The grandson could even walk up to the cage without getting the red eye.

Anyway getting on with the events, I had a good idea, Since I had been having problems with stolen gas cans and I had a skunk, the gears started turning in my head.

I put the skunk cage in about the same spot I leave gas cans when I am working in the yard, put 3 (empty)cans on each side of the cage to make it look like windfall bonanza for a gas thief.

It took about 2 weeks but I got up this morning and smelled skunk spray so I went out and found the cans all messed up and Ralph almost looked like he was smileing. I was so happy with the little fella, opened the cage and turned him loose...he stayed in the cage for several hours before he finally left and stayed gone. Genes like that need to be passed on.

I just wish I had thought to set up the gamecams to record the event.


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## NaeKid

That was awesome!!! Revenge is very sweet! :2thumb:

Now, you could follow your nose around the neighborhood to see if you can track-down the theives ...


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## Immolatus

tsalam16 said:


> How about placing a tarp over the cage and dragging it off into the woods or somewhere and let it go?


This was gonna be my idea. Hold the tarp in front of you as you approach it and dump it on top. Like I needed to say that...

I hope the implication was not that Andi was going to eat the skunk????


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## *Andi

Immolatus said:


> I hope the implication was not that Andi was going to eat the skunk????


It was all in good fun ... 

With that said, I do have a vapor rub recipe calling for the lard of one skunk. My Great Grandmother made back in the day of "waste not ... want not". Which came to mind when Davarm posted the thread.

Davarm ~ Now we must hope the theives don't turn you in for having a attack skunk on your land. :flower: I can read the headline now ... Man jailed after Ralph the skunk stops theives with foul odor.


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## Immolatus

Whew.
Whoa, vapor run from the lard of a skunk? I wanted to insert a joke about eye of newt, but didnt want to imply grandma was a 'witch'. 

I am rooting for Pepe Le Pew!
Down at the river we had to release a **** the neighbor had trapped for days (at a vacation cabin over the winter), my buddy (no bleeding heart, hes a hunter) felt bad for the thing so we released it.


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## *Andi

Immolatus said:


> Whew.
> Whoa, vapor run from the lard of a skunk? I wanted to insert a joke about eye of newt, but didnt want to imply grandma was a 'witch'.


lol ... Well, I had to get it from somewhere. 

"Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting ... :ignore:


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## Davarm

NaeKid said:


> That was awesome!!! Revenge is very sweet! :2thumb:
> 
> Now, you could follow your nose around the neighborhood to see if you can track-down the theives ...


Ralph did his job well, I had not thought about following my nose to find the "Perps", but just may do that, I figure that I will probably have about a good 3 or 4 days to track them down.


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## Claymore5150

You could post an ad in the local paper stating that if your 'significant' other came home smelling of skunk, he's a former fuel thief!


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## Jason

Davarm, you are brilliant.


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