LGD Discussion

[Hippie Rancher]

If we put the traps in the garage, I might catch a puppy, but the trap(s) will be outside, near their transit hole. They might not go in at first, but if they realize there's nothing to eat in Donald's food bowl, they might come out and try the food in the trap. I'll leave the final disposition to the neighbor girls. I have no place to submerge them except the cow trough, and I don't want to do that (anyway that's a terrible way to die, a bullet would be faster and kinder). It's not like I haven't dealt with skunk stink before.

it isn't the most pleasant way to die but had too many oil releases with shooting. used the trough for a long time but finally got a dedicated container closer to the house.

if you have cats or chickens loose you may catch them too. we generally close ours in the daytime so the chickens don't get caught. even so all the pets have been caught at one time or another. just have to remember to check regularly.

 

[aprille218]

I've had really good luck with using large marshmallows and peanut butter as bait for skunks. If you smear some peanut butter on the end of the marshmallow and stick them to a paper plate in the live trap it works great. It doesn't attract the cats but chickens still get caught.
Aprille

 

[Lannie]

Thanks. The traps will only be set at night, and the chickens are locked up in the afternoon at evening chore time, about an hour before sunset. The cats are in the house at night. So the only ones likely to get caught in one are wild animals. There might be the odd exception, but hopefully not too many.

We don't have marshmallows or peanut butter or paper plates, and it's 100 miles each way to go get some, so we'll have to stick with either dry dog food or canned or dry cat food. We have plenty of those.

If we get a skunk in a trap, I'm going to just leave it there and call the neighbor girls to come and get it and do whatever it is they do. And then we'll do it again until the skunks are both caught and out of here.

I hope there aren't any babies...

 

[Travlr]

Thanks. The traps will only be set at night, and the chickens are locked up in the afternoon at evening chore time, about an hour before sunset. The cats are in the house at night. So the only ones likely to get caught in one are wild animals. There might be the odd exception, but hopefully not too many.

We don't have marshmallows or peanut butter or paper plates, and it's 100 miles each way to go get some, so we'll have to stick with either dry dog food or canned or dry cat food. We have plenty of those.

If we get a skunk in a trap, I'm going to just leave it there and call the neighbor girls to come and get it and do whatever it is they do. And then we'll do it again until the skunks are both caught and out of here.

I hope there aren't any babies...

You must be out by Faith, SD.

 

[CowboyRam]

A former college roommate told me this story. He and a buddy trapped a skunk, put it up to the exhaust of his Jeep. They thought it was dead, While they were driving to go pickup their girlfriends it woke up and sprayed inside his Jeep. I don't remember how the date went, but it probably didn't happen.

 

[Lannie]

You must be out by Faith, SD.

Close.

 

[Lannie]

Skunk update. We got one pretty quick after we set the traps, but it was a smaller one, not one of the two big ones I knew about, so we likely have a whole family living here. The neighbor came over and dispatched it, and we re-set the traps every night, but they studiously avoided them, and continued to dig under the wall, inches from the traps, to eat the dog food inside the garage. Several days ago, Donald figured out how to get over the baby gate shutting him in at night, so it's been taken down and the skunks can freely come and go through the doorway now and Donald has free run of the place. I just make sure to pick up the food at night now, and we'll try again on the skunks once Donald is too big to fit inside the trap.

Speaking of which, here are some current pictures of my adorable little fluffball. (I am waiting anxiously for him to lose his shark teeth, because THEY ARE SO SHARP!)

Playing tug with Maggie's tail (she is SO patient with him)...



Chillin' in the shade of the pickup. He dragged a dirty old rug out to use as a pillow, LOL!


Being adorable.


Asking for cookies!


Coming back from the barn after chores, with his big sister:




And now I have TWO cookie monsters! Whenever they see my hand in my pocket, they sit!


Maggie is taking very good care of Donald, and he's so smart, it's scary. She stays home all day and watches out for him, and even if she wants alone time (nap time), she's somewhere within earshot, so if he barks or whines, she comes and makes sure he's OK. Then when she goes out on coyote patrol in the evening, he goes in the garage and puts himself to bed. He's such a good boy. He won't come out the door of the garage until it's full light out. Maggie comes back after evening patrol and spends the night up at the north end of the property, warning the coyote packs away (most of them are north and east of us), then she usually goes out again just before sunrise and does a quick patrol around the perimeter before she comes back for the day, about the time Donald is getting up, and then they can play and have their breakfast and stuff. I just love watching the two of them together.

I can't wait to see how they work together, once Donald is a big boy. And judging by those feet, he's going to be a very big boy.

 

[Lannie]

Donald finally grew enough to fit into Conan's old collar. I have it sized down as small as it will go. Conan wore this collar from day one (sized down), and we've had Donald for a month now, and he just grew into it. He's at maximum molecular density, too, I can barely pick him up anymore.

He does love his cookies, though. Maybe that's why he's so heavy, LOL!

 

[CowboyRam]

Donald finally grew enough to fit into Conan's old collar. I have it sized down as small as it will go. Conan wore this collar from day one (sized down), and we've had Donald for a month now, and he just grew into it. He's at maximum molecular density, too, I can barely pick him up anymore.

He does love his cookies, though. Maybe that's why he's so heavy, LOL!

View attachment 57489

I have never seen a dog that didn't like cookies. Each time I go to the back my dog stares intently at the teller thinking that will get him a cookie that much faster.

 

[Lannie]

I like to get 'em hooked early, so they're fairly dependable on coming when I call. If they always think they're getting a cookie... they usually leave off whatever they're doing and come to me.

I know that look your dog beams at the bank teller. I have an expert at that, plus, she always has a string of drool hanging, just in case you need an extra clue.

 

[Lannie]

Maggie got into a serious kerfuffle last night with "something." I'm assuming it was a coyote. Whatever it was, I believe it was a fight to the death, and thank God Maggie was the one to come home. She showed up for breakfast this morning absolutely covered in blood, but I don't think most of it was hers. I checked her over thoroughly and could only find one wound on her - a bite on the lip. So some of the blood on her muzzle was no doubt hers, but she had red blood splattered ALL OVER her face and front legs, blood rubbed in to the ruff under her neck like she'd been shaking something really bloody, and streaks and splats of blood on her back legs, sides, and belly.

Little Donald can't grow up fast enough! Maggie doesn't usually get into such a life or death struggle, but when she does, she needs backup. If our dear departed Conan had been with her, I don't think the fight would have even escalated to the point of blood. Conan was good at scaring the coyotes off. But on the other hand, if Maggie DID kill a coyote last night, the rest of the pack will know that and maybe give her a wider berth.

I'm just glad she's OK. She'll have another "noble scar," but she's still beautiful to me.