The skunk is dead....

[IFjane]

YES! Skunks are awesome little guys. We had one in our yard about a week ago - late afternoon - we suspect it was a nursing female and she was soooo hungry she couldn't wait until dark. She waddled up to the flower bed - she was headed for the spilled birdseed under the feeders - but when she heard us in the house she scurried back through the yard and into the woods.

When I was very young my dad and I found a baby skunk down by the creek in our yard. It was the cutest thing I ever saw! It was quite ferocious and definitely thought it was much bigger than it really was. It kept pouncing on my shoes. Dad and I got some crabcake from the kitchen (shhhhh! don't tell Mom!) and fed it some morsels. No, we did not keep it. In fact, once we put the crabcake on the ground in front of it, we left and never saw it again.

No, I don't want to walk up on one at night and yes, all my dogs were sprayed at one time or another. They can be very unpleasant - but they deserve a place on this planet just like we do.

[SouthernBelle]

We have lots of skunks around here. I've sat on the deck and watched one eating grubs in my back yard. He wasn't but a few feet away.

Another time I walked out front to get the mail, later than usual. Turned around and there was a skunk. I could have scratched his little head. he was traveling along so I just stood and watched him go by.

They've never bothered my cats, who also seem to enjoy watching them from the deck.

[SadieKate]

Since it won't be the last time, you may want to read up on the benefits of skunks and how to co-exist with them. Not only is it breeding season, but your yard may be full of attractive items.

http://www.laanimalservices.com/wildlife_skunks.htm

http://www.fundwildlife.org/coexist/skunks.html

[snapdragen]

Can we not beat up on flybye - she and her family did what they felt was best. None of us knows if the skunk in her yard was sick; I would tend to believe it was by it's behavior. I really doubt it brought great joy to have to kill the poor animal.

[SadieKate]

Wow, snap, I thought I was giving her some resources to deal with the next time. Skunks are part of almost all rural and urban environments.

[Zeek]

This thread has my curiosity peaked. So when does a skunk spray and why? I'm assuming it's when it feels threatened somehow. I've never seen a skunk "in person" but it's good to know that if I ever encounter one, not to automatically assume it's going to spray me.

[Flybye]

Who picked up Stinky to bury him?

That would, of course, be a job for DH

[Flybye]

Wow, did I open up a can of worms or what?

I am a country girl and have grown up around skunks my entire life. They are pests and they are wretched. They have no natural predators and therefore are overpoplulated. They do carry rabies and they do spray easily. Maybe the ones on Myth Busters were more accustomed to living with people and maybe the ones in the camprgound were accustomed to this as well. The ones that I have been around aren't.

They spray up to 10 feet. It is wretched. It can send you to the hospital it is so awful. I know two people who have gone to the hospital for that. I have had one dog that was sprayed 10 times. My neighbor that shot the skunk? Sprayed twice. Did you know that the spray of a skunk can make unopened food - crackers - taste like the spray of a skunk? It isn't a nose thing, either. The crackers that I am referring to were 3 months old and unopened. Barf. Did you know that the smell can linger in your car for up to 6 months after a near proximity spraying? We had a car growing up and MAN was it awful to ride in. Did you know that tomato juice really doesn't work? I do because I have bathed the dog that got sprayed with it numerous times.

This is not the first time that I have been around a skunk that we have shot, in fact, it is about the 11th time. Now hold your horses - I also fish and eat them. I like hunting. I also smack mosquitoes when they land on me. Horse flies too. I also set out DCon to kill the mice at my house. I eat chicken.

My point? Everything does have a place on the planet. Including US!!! I am not an awful person because I do these things. You aren't perfect because you don't. There isn't ONE right way to do things. You are entitled to your opinion on this matter as am I.

It didn't bring great joy for us to pop off a skunk , (and also I am not going to throw a funeral for it) - but it is a relief to know that it won't be lurking out there when I let my dog out - or when the kids do on accident. It is also a relief to know that I won't be getting sprayed next time I mow the lawn. They are creatures of habit and do tend to return to the same place to "nest".

Thanks for all of your opinions. I don't feel at all bad for what I did. Life in the Western rural setting is perhaps a bit different than the rest of the world. Just remember, there are many opinions and no ONE right way.

[mimitabby]

Flybye you fish and eat skunks? Eyewwww

where i grew up skunks got hit by cars frequently, so their aroma was always present... now when i smell one (from afar) I get quite a feeling of nostalgia from the smell.

[spokewench]

We had a family of skunks living under our shed for quite a few years. They never bothered me and I never bothered them. My cats both got skunked once when we first moved to Flag (where they encountered their first skunks). After that, never happened again. Again, the reason "Cats are way smarter than dogs!" Dogs will get skunked over and over. They just can't resist!

And, I will admit everyone has their own opinions about pests, but Skunks are not on that list for me.

spoke

[DDH]

Flybye, your right tomatoe juice doesn't work, neither does vinegar and believe it or not I have tried the douce thing too. I live in TX in the country and we have an abundance of them too. My dogs have been sprayed and nothing gets it out. You can cut the smell down some with these items but it is a matter of mostly letting it wear off. Then everytime the dogs get wet again, the smell comes right back out. I have tried all those items plus a few of the over the counter items and they don't work either.

As far as shooting the animal, it's like anything else, some agree and some don't.
We had coyotes crossing our pasture about a month ago in broad daylight and these are not animals that come out in the daytime hours in populated area's normally so it was a little un-nerving and if my husband could have gotten the rifle out in time to shoot them he would have. Do I like it, no, but I have domestic animals and I have a 12 year old child, and if they are getting so bold as to come out in the daytime in a populated area, then they are a danger.
I believe that a skunk that would come out in broad day light is sick or rabid and I don't think I would have taken a chance to have left it either.


I eat meat, and I hunt, but it doesn't make me any less of an advid animal lover, point being I understand where you are coming from.

[SadieKate]

We had coyotes crossing our pasture about a month ago in broad daylight and these are not animals that come out in the daytime hours in populated area's normally . . . .

Guess you haven't spent much time in California, have you? American River Parkway, Mt. Diablo, ALL of Southern California, etc. These are animals that have become very used to humans and live very successfully in the urban setting.

[SadieKate]

Wait, wait, wait. We've all managed to diplomatically share our opinions about skunks without calling each other names. Can we keep it that way? Please?

[Veronica]

. They are pests and they are wretched. They have no natural predators and therefore are overpopulated.

Sounds like humans to me.

I think smoking should be against the law at National Parks. It's gross to see cigarette butts on the ground anywhere... but at Crater Lake... geez.

We have skunks, raccoons and feral cats in our backyard. It's always interesting to watch how they interact.

V.

[mimitabby]

Sounds like humans to me.

exactly. pave the forest and put in another wallmart dang. those critters. they should go back where they came from! oh.. we are where they came from