Skunks

Where are all my Canadian brothers? I had our Canadian Brigadier General tour my motor pool and barracks. I rode over to the barracks in his van and a skunk had sprayed it...smelled horrible...burning rubber in the back of the throat smell:barf:; he didn't seem to mind too much and I made the comment that the skunk must be Canada's National Animal:D Lucky for me he has a good sense of humor:D

ROCK6
 
My uncle's girlfriend, who is very much a city slicker, though she tries hard, found a litter of fairly fresh skunklettes, they were walking and open eyed, but just. so since they smelled a little off, she bathed them, hair dryered them, and sent them on their way, so for the next year or so we joked about seeing "her" skunks around the farm, and not shooting the ones with bows....

we had a very large skunk population, and due to the risk of rabies, tried to keep them under control, so the general method was .22lr instead of just relocation. However, one of my dad's relates made some money live trapping, de-scenting and selling young skunks as pets. apparently smarter than cats, and in high demand a while back (50s-60s iirc)
 
I don't mind skunks much, although my experience with flashlight vs. skunk is much different than what Arrowhead posted. I was kayak camping on a small island with a rather large skunk population. Nature called that evening, flashlight in hand I made my way to the latrine when I see two glowing eyeballs about 25 feet ahead of me. Thinking it might be a cat or raccoon, I directed the beam into those eyes only to reveal a skunk. The light seemed to draw the skunk as it continued to walk directly toward me, mesmerized by the light. I quickly killed the light and it dashed away off the path.
 
I got sprayed while house-sitting upstate a few years ago. I saw the skunk in time but their dog I was walking is very small animal aggressive and went right at it. She got nailed good, I just got hit a little. She was miserable and kept rolling in the grass and groaning. I shampooed her thoroughly to very little effect :grumpy: I called the owners and told them what happened and recommended what is supposed to work - hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and dish soap. They were concerned that the peroxide would turn their black dog into a gray dog and told me not to do it :confused: Several months later they brought her down to the city and I could still get a faint whiff of skunk if I smelled her head and neck :eek:
 
theonew said:
I got sprayed while house-sitting upstate a few years ago. I saw the skunk in time but their dog I was walking is very small animal aggressive and went right at it. She got nailed good, I just got hit a little. She was miserable and kept rolling in the grass and groaning. I shampooed her thoroughly to very little effect :grumpy: I called the owners and told them what happened and recommended what is supposed to work - hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and dish soap. They were concerned that the peroxide would turn their black dog into a gray dog and told me not to do it :confused: Several months later they brought her down to the city and I could still get a faint whiff of skunk if I smelled her head and neck :eek:
Click to expand...

Supposedly, tomato juice will work to get the skunk smell out. I've never tried it, but a former neighbor swore by it (and at her dog).
 
dawsonbob said:
Supposedly, tomato juice will work to get the skunk smell out. I've never tried it, but a former neighbor swore by it (and at her dog).
Click to expand...

I tried that and honestly it didn't do squat. Gave her some reddish highlights is all :D
 
This thread Stinks ;)

I have one living somewhere right off my patio(townhouse). I stay away as it's got an itchy-trigger tail due to a pair of both fox and coyote frequenting the area. It's tail almost never drops when I see him out back looking for food.
Several nights I've been out and have seen him about 100 meters from my building. When he see's me, he heads straight at me and I head straight inside. I can't figure out why he does this. Maybe because I'm near his den or a neighbor is leaving food out for him??
 
theonew said:
I tried that and honestly it didn't do squat. Gave her some reddish highlights is all :D
Click to expand...

Well that settles that: if the need ever arises, I'll try something else. I mean, reddish highlight are nice, and all that, but it's the smell we need to deal with.
 
dawsonbob said:
Well that settles that: if the need ever arises, I'll try something else. I mean, reddish highlight are nice, and all that, but it's the smell we need to deal with.
Click to expand...

I saw a Mythbusters episode about this and the only thing I recall that actually worked was hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and dish soap.

Wasting all the tomato juice also ruins the bloody mary's for breakfast plan :grumpy:
 
theonew said:
I tried that and honestly it didn't do squat. Gave her some reddish highlights is all :D
Click to expand...

Better yet, make the stripe black! (evil grin)

I always tell my friends young children ... "Don't try and pet the kitty with the white stripe"
 
theonew said:
I saw a Mythbusters episode about this and the only thing I recall that actually worked was hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and dish soap.

Wasting all the tomato juice also ruins the bloody mary's for breakfast plan :grumpy:
Click to expand...

Ah! I'd almost forgotten that tomato juice has better uses than de-stinking the dog.
 
Skunks could be worse. There's one in my immediate area. Little bastard came trotting down the sidewalk like he was late for church just last Saturday. His little claws scrabbled on the concrete, and he kept pouncing on the sewer covers. I think he thought one of them might be his hidey-hole...their eyesight is pretty bad. Anyway, he scampered across the street with that weird 1-2-3-4 foot motion they have, tail bobbing like a flag, until he slipped under a wooden security fence in a neighbor's yard. I hear he was back in our yard last Tuesday afternoon. Not sure why he's so active in mid-day, but it is mating season for them right now.

Mothballs are cheap and effective. Only thing: ya gotta put a LOT of them into their hole. The skunk den is pretty deep, and the buggers are smart enough to bend their tunnels to prevent flooding. If you only chuck in a couple of mothballs, the skunk just knocks them out or buries them in a side-hole. You need a lot to FOG the guy out. Yes, your whole property smells like napthalene for a while, but it works. Also gets possums out, too.

My only concern with using chocolate: chocolate is not merely poisonous for skunks, but is bad for most animals, too. You might find your chocolate gone, the skunk still there, but diarrhea from the local feral cat all over your lawn.

Worse, too, if you let your dog out and he finds it. :barf:
 
dawsonbob said:
Well that settles that: if the need ever arises, I'll try something else. I mean, reddish highlight are nice, and all that, but it's the smell we need to deal with.
Click to expand...

Last summer was the first time I've had any dog of mine sprayed and I ended up having to go buy "Natures Miracle (Skunk odor remover)" made by PETS N PEOPLE, INC. in Hauppauge, NY. Tried several grannie methods but really nothing worked as well as this..

or might have been a combination of everything we used to get it off.. who knows:rolleyes::D:thumbup:
 
You need an acidic tomato paste or sauce, and it will neutralize. It took a couple of cycles, but it worked on my short haired Weimeraner. He just liked to hunt, did not care what he hunted.
 
In one campground I visited, the ranger said the kids were playing with the local skunk by moving a flashlight beam across the ground at night. The skunk would chase it.

For the people who used mothballs: Were you using naphthalene, as one poster noted, or the paradichlorobenzene variety? I've had good luck with the latter against varmints up to bear size.

Lastly: Do any of you have spotted skunks or are they mostly the striped variety? I saw some spotted skunks on Santa Cruz Island and was surprised that they look more like a weasel than a striped skunk. Cute and curious little fellows.

DancesWithKnives
 
Skunk, weasel, mink, wolverine, badger, are all mustelids. Skunk are probably the most even-tempered of all of them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top