We would take Green Pine Straw, set it on fire, and let the smoke settle on the skunk scented areas. It would get rid of a lot of the smell. But you would smell halfway like a pine tree. You decide which... I helped a friend do that one day too. He went to feed his chickens and as he went around the corner, a skunk was there trying to steal eggs that had been thrown out of the pen. He raised his tail and started spraying yellow gas.CHL/LEO wrote:Back in the late 60s when I was a kid I used to trap Nutria that were invading our stock tanks and possums that were getting into our chicken coops. One night I heard one of our hounds barking and figured I had just caught another possum in the trap by the chicken coop. I got dressed and headed out there with my rifle and sure enough I had caught something all right - a skunk! He had sprayed both the chicken coop and our dog who went to check it out. I shot the skunk and he let loose again. I went and woke my aunt and uncle up and told them what happened. Their reply was: you caught it - you deal with it. What a mess that was. The next afternoon I pulled my entire trap line.
Every Saturday we would head to town for haircuts and of course I would sit there reading Field & Stream until it was time to go. I can't ever recall any of their stories about trapping addressing what to do if you caught a skunk. I do remember we went through a lot of tomato juice on our dog trying to get that stench out. We finally just took some sheep shears to him.
My friend described a burning throat and eyes and he could hardly breath for a few seconds. Then the awful smell hit set in. He said his eyes burned all day. I ragged him good about that skunk.
We caught very few skunks because we set mostly water/hole and blind sets along small streams and creeks. When we did catch one....When the trap springs, the animal jumps into the deeper water and drowns under the weight of the steel trap. By the time we got there, the smell would be washed down the stream. We would stake the trap in at least 18 to 24 inches of water so that flowing water would just give that drowned skunk a good long bath before we got there.
Mink musk is pretty strong and obnoxious too. Not as bad as a skunk though. I never caught a skunk in a bobcat or fox set though. I caught every possum in the county though. Guess I was lucky.
I think some of the old issues of Fur, Fish and Game might have some articles about what to do when you catch a skunk in a steel trap although I don't recollect which month and year. One of my uncles trapped all his life. He would dispatch a skunk on dry land sets with his .22 rifle and come back in a day to get him out of the trap. He just tolerated the smell. He had to move his trap after the catch usually.
If you shoot a skunk, you will most certainly cause it to release a load of yellow gas. Some say shooting it in the head will most always cause it to spray. Others recommend a shot to the heart/lung with a followup to the head. If you get the skunk before he/she releases, chances are you can deal with the low-grade skunk musk to get it out of your trap. My advice is don't take chances with them. Stand back.
Hoppes
PPES