Ok, this is unreal

B

Bullwinkle

Active Member
IMG_6727.JPG i have a mud room that doesn't have a basement off my hunting cabin. We've had problems with skunks living under it and tearing up my lawn each summer digging for grubs

Last summer we killed 6 of them

We've been trapping since it warmed up around the house. We are up to 11 in a week. This was today's catch

Anyone have any advice?
 
Trying to get rid of the grubs may help. Every fall they hit my yard some, but nothing too serious.
That's a big pile of stink, right there.
 
I wonder if there is a cheap way to fill it in under the mud with concrete or something. The grubs would be a huge battle I would guess
 
If they are getting underneath you will have to block it all off so they can't get under.You think you have it bad I went to some peoples house that had skunks get under their house.They they tore a hole in flex duct so then they were basically walking up to the vents in the house and they were trying to keep them calm.
 
In all seriousness, You need what's called a " concrete Rat wall " .This will prevent animals from boring under a structure.
 
I had skunks tunnel under my foundation and get into the dirt crawspace thats open to my basement when I first moved in. Electrical guys found out when they were running wires lol I trapped like 7 and still had more. I ran heavy hardware cloth like a ft deep and 3feet out all the way around my deck and exposed foundation, set landscaping blocks inside and out of wire all around, filled it with dirt/mulch and put plants there. Havnt had the problem since, though they still try to dig under until they hit the wire.
 
Are they tunneling under the mud room or is there access to it ? I'm trying to picture what you described.
I have heard that you can keep them out of dark areas, like under a deck, by simply placing a light in the area.
Skunks are usually nocturnal and like to sleep in dark areas during the day. If you brighten up a normally dark area they just simply find another place to sleep. It may not apply to your situation though.
 
These things you come up; they just can't be made up! When dealt with lemons, make lemonade. My wife and I made this vest out of skunk pelts, let the hides out, lined it and added deer antler buttons and it has been a fun vest for her.

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Had skunks getting in under one of our cottages; First killed all known skunks than put wire over entrance hole and a cinder block. As mentioned there is a draw there and either fence them out or remove draw.
 
I've heard before that you can use either powder laundry detergent or liquid bleach to keep them at bay. Pour out a perimeter you don't want them to cross.

No guarantees this actually works though.
 
What is the best way to trap them? In 24+ years here I have seen exactly 2 skunks and I shot both of them. This year I started getting trail cam photos of skunks from time to time. I recently found that porkies (I believe) had chewed a hole into the foundation of an old hunting camp that we have on our south 40 but do not use. I want to board it up to keep the critters out but I want to get them out first.

Looking closer, it looked like racoon fur at the entrance so I set up a scouting camera to see if it was porkies or coons I needed to trap. Left the camera out for maybe a week and when I pulled the camera card I found I had at least 1 porkie, at least 1 very large coon and at least 3 skunks coming in and out of that hole.

I was hoping to get the skunks in dog proof traps and then lung shoot them as I read some place that they seldom spray when lung shot. I have 160's and 220 conibears as well but I was thinking they would likely spray if caught in a body grip (don't know as I've never trapped one). Anyway, I set a couple of DP's and baited them with some canned salmon and covered the traps with styrofoam cups as it was starting to rain. I figured I would catch either the coon or possibly a skunk or two with this set.

Checked the traps the next morning and found that they had eaten the salmon I left outside of the DP's, they had taken the styrofoam cups off of the DP's but they did not get the salmon under the trigger. These are Duke DP's with a pull only trigger. I'm guessing a coon would have tripped the trigger to get the bait so I think it was skunks and not coon that showed up. I set 2 more DP's and baited them with a large marshmallow under the trigger as well as a large one above the trigger. Left a short trail with miniature marshmallows and again covered the traps with styro cups. I also rebaited the first 2 traps with some miniature marshmallows under the trigger and a few above. Checked them in the blizzard this morning and was 0 for 4 with none of the cups being removed so I'm guessing this cold and snow convinced them to stay indoors. It has been snowing most of the day and more is expected tonight so I'm not real confident I will have any action tonight but it will be warming up eventually.

Once I get the skunks and coon i'm sure I can get the porkie with a foothold trap right below the hole but I want to get the skunks out first. Any suggestions if they continue to avoid my Duke DP's??
 
We trap skunks at the cottage with a box trap baited with peanut butter and jelly. We put a dark green or black plastic bag around the trap. Seldom will it catch a house cat like fish would. WE then cover the trap with am old sheet and carry it to the dock and lower the box into the water--end of skunk--no spraying. We use to release them elsewhere but it can spread disease.The box trap is carried with a large metal hook to keep our body away from the skunk should he be sick and care to bite.
 
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