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Barry's Big Adventure
Got up this morning to find that our perpetually set groundhog trap had caught a skunk. Most feared of all possibilities. What in the hell do you do with a trapped skunk? Murder not being an option, here.
Called the vet for advice. Advice: call county animal control. Hallelujah! They'll make this nasty problem go away. . .our tax dollars at work.
Called animal control. No, they would not come and make my problem disappear. They kindly told me that I could release it on my own property, or at some other specific location I didn't bother to make a note of. Transporting Mr.(?) Skunk also not an option.
When all else fails, Google is your friend. Found several descriptions of effective ways to deal with skunk spray--the best, of course, being to avoid it. But there was also good advice found on a search of "release skunk from trap". I.e., approach slowly, letting the nearsighted critter see you. Keep a good tarp or other cloth before you as a shield. Drape the cover over the trap; skunks evidently don't waste their spray on targets they can no longer see. And finally, carry a stick or something to jam the trap door so you don't have to stay around to hold it open. Then open the door and get the hell out of there.
And, anticlimactically, it all worked. Skunk departed, nothing got sprayed, not even the trap, and my new tarp doesn't have to be thrown out.
I'll settle for that. Happily. My only regret is that posting about the whole thing was an afterthought, so there are no pictures.
Called the vet for advice. Advice: call county animal control. Hallelujah! They'll make this nasty problem go away. . .our tax dollars at work.
Called animal control. No, they would not come and make my problem disappear. They kindly told me that I could release it on my own property, or at some other specific location I didn't bother to make a note of. Transporting Mr.(?) Skunk also not an option.
When all else fails, Google is your friend. Found several descriptions of effective ways to deal with skunk spray--the best, of course, being to avoid it. But there was also good advice found on a search of "release skunk from trap". I.e., approach slowly, letting the nearsighted critter see you. Keep a good tarp or other cloth before you as a shield. Drape the cover over the trap; skunks evidently don't waste their spray on targets they can no longer see. And finally, carry a stick or something to jam the trap door so you don't have to stay around to hold it open. Then open the door and get the hell out of there.
And, anticlimactically, it all worked. Skunk departed, nothing got sprayed, not even the trap, and my new tarp doesn't have to be thrown out.
I'll settle for that. Happily. My only regret is that posting about the whole thing was an afterthought, so there are no pictures.