Why do you suppose there is such a critter? They don't contribute much to the food chain because almost nothing eats them. We were weighing calves this morning and realized a skunk had taken up residence under the scales. We debated whether to shoot it now or finish weighing. We finished the weighing without incident, then stuck the .22 barrel through a crack right on his head. He hardly flinched, but still stunk up the place. I enjoy most animals, wild or tame, but I've never been able to come up with a positive quality that a skunk has. Anyone?
Skunks
- Thread starter Frankie
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Campground Cattle
Well-known member
Frankie":1vqkczh2 said:
Horned Owls like em.
Great horned owls eat a wide variety of prey, both small and large. Cottontail rabbits seem to be a prominent food, but the owls will take squirrels, shrews, jackrabbits, muskrats, mice, weasels, skunks, pocket gophers, snakes, domestic cats, bats, beetles, scorpions, frogs, grasshoppers, and a wide variety of birds, from small passerines like juncos and sparrows to wild ducks, grouse, pheasants, and even other owls. It seems that the world is one big smorgasbord to a great horned owl.
Crowderfarms
Well-known member
Camp, you forgot about flocks of Chickens.
Campground, I heard the same thing. Only two preditors that skunks have to worry about are owls and people. Mostly people in cars.
Susie David
Well-known member
Had a friend once that would skin every skunk he could find and make Davy Crockett type hats out of them...'bout the only purpose I can think for the critters....
Have three great horned owls that hunt our place...I put dog food out along the road for them in the evenings.
Dave Mc
Have three great horned owls that hunt our place...I put dog food out along the road for them in the evenings.
Dave Mc
A
Anonymous
They wreak havoc on rodents and bee hives - other than that they are a nusance.
Bez'
Bez'
Stocker Steve
Well-known member
We have retired neighbors who put their farm into the CRP program and now spends half of each day watering and fertilizing their yard. After dark the skunks come out of the CRP grass in groups to dig in this choice ground for grubs or worms.
Is digging up your yard useful?
Is digging up your yard useful?
Mahoney Pursley Ranch
Well-known member
Followed a whole family of them striped critters along the fence line a few weeks ago. When they got to the end to cross the road they met Mr. 20 gauge and his number six shot cousins. ;-)
Craig-TX
Well-known member
IMO skunks fall under the useless category with rattlesnakes and coyotes. Plus they kill chickens. Even when hides were bringing top dollar they were useless. Whatever little good they might do they're not worth it.
Frankie, check out the following link
http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/StratfordLand ... _skunk.htm
skunks do help us out by eating pests such as mice, grasshoppers, catepillers, etc.
http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/StratfordLand ... _skunk.htm
skunks do help us out by eating pests such as mice, grasshoppers, catepillers, etc.
El_Putzo
Well-known member
Skunks are also scavengers. They help clean up other dead animals. Other than that, sometimes they are good for a laugh when somebody's dog gets sprayed while we're coon hunting. Seems as though the first thing a dog does after being sprayed by a skunk is to come sit directly next to his owner. :lol:
Where is the emoticon for holding my nose!!
Where is the emoticon for holding my nose!!
sidney411
Well-known member
I had a skunk family living in the well house. I wish I would have known about the water trick!!! Long story short. 1 .223 bullet later we had 1 dead skunk (which let off a cloud of stink in a real little building!) and a rather large hole in the only pipe feeding the house! on a Sunday afternoon, mind you. BAD MEMORY!
Dave
Well-known member
Skunks are great mousers, but I am not sure which is worse having a skunk or mice.
When killing a skunk never shoot them in the head as that will always make it spray. Get down low (skunks fear things from above, great horned owls), when the skunk relaxs and lowers its tail shot it behind the shoulder with a 22 short. Aim to avoid any major bones. It will take a minute or two for the skunk to die but it wont spray the vast majority of the time. And I know I hate to see them die slow but I hate that yellow cloud that they let go when head shot even more. I have used this method on hundreds of them that I accidently caught in coyote traps and it works great for me.
Dave
When killing a skunk never shoot them in the head as that will always make it spray. Get down low (skunks fear things from above, great horned owls), when the skunk relaxs and lowers its tail shot it behind the shoulder with a 22 short. Aim to avoid any major bones. It will take a minute or two for the skunk to die but it wont spray the vast majority of the time. And I know I hate to see them die slow but I hate that yellow cloud that they let go when head shot even more. I have used this method on hundreds of them that I accidently caught in coyote traps and it works great for me.
Dave
milesvb
Well-known member
msscamp":3ctyqfgt said:
My thoughts are that everything in nature has a purpose even if it isn't readily perceived by us. I pretty much let them be unless they: A. Take up residence in a building I frequent. Or B. They're acting strange (rabies or other disease).
Here it seems that around February of each year the public road system does a really good job of keeping the population in check ;-) .
sidney411
Well-known member
Thanks for the tip Dave. I would have never figured that, I would think the most direct kill would be the one that would effect less 'stinky' situations. Obviously I'm wrong again. Will keep that in mind for any upcoming skunk eradications.
Skunks can be caught "live" without spraying. If you pick them up by the tail and the back legs are not touching anything they cannot spray. Of course, when you do have to put them down they might. We would drop them in a 10 gal. milk can, and they wouldn't spray in it for some reason. I guess because they were in it?
We used to catch them and sell them to a local vet for $5 each. He would raise little ones and de-scent them for pets.
We used to catch them and sell them to a local vet for $5 each. He would raise little ones and de-scent them for pets.
certherfbeef
Well-known member
Not too long ago I watched "Mythbusters". They were trying to figure out what will get rid of the shunky smell the best.
Problem was, no matter what they did they couldn't get the shunk to outright spray them.
Finally, after several different skunks, they put it into a small room and got it to spray just a little.
Came to the conclusion the tomato juice and peroxide/baking soda /dish detergent were the 2 remidies that worked the best.
Problem was, no matter what they did they couldn't get the shunk to outright spray them.
Finally, after several different skunks, they put it into a small room and got it to spray just a little.
Came to the conclusion the tomato juice and peroxide/baking soda /dish detergent were the 2 remidies that worked the best.
