BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???

Subject: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: Bobert
Date: 12 May 08 - 01:25 PM

Well, smell, well...

We have a real young skunk that comes into our mudroom/enclosed prch at night around 8:30 and eats our cat's food... They don't seem to mind and he doesn't seem to be bothered by the cats either... We watch him thru the glass storm door and he seems to see us watching him but if I go out there he goes into the corner and turns around and threatens to spray me...

So I think I can catch him in a live trap but wondering if it would be possible to take him to get de-stinked and wondered if anyone had ever done such a thing so that I'd have better information before doing anything... I think if he was de-stinked he'd prolly juus hanf around the house like the cats do and maybe eventually think he was just one of them???

Idonno???

B~

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: Wesley S
Date: 12 May 08 - 01:29 PM

Perhaps you could move the cat food inside the house?

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: Melissa
Date: 12 May 08 - 01:30 PM

It might be a good idea to check with your vet to see if he/she is willing to do a de-stinking before you start crating the critter.

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 May 08 - 01:30 PM

Yeah, a skunk can be descented. Sears (of all places!) used to sell them via their catalog back in the 1950s.

But when you descent them they lose what is pretty much their only natural defense.

I'd call the local animal shelter and have them trap and remove it. Trap is OUTSIDE your mudroom, preferably as far away from the house as you can. Iffen you don't, the P-Vine is liable to say things you don't wanna hear.

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: wysiwyg
Date: 12 May 08 - 01:46 PM

Go ahead and de-stink it.... as long as you are willing to be de-balled yourself. Nature, dontchaknow, is NATURE. Don't mess with Mother Nature!

Just remove the catfood to a more protected locale, and the skunk will probably find other vittles elsewhere. If the kittykibbles attract a rabid racoon it won't be as cute as the skunk when it bites the kittehs.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 12 May 08 - 02:32 PM

Sinsull and Seamus are the Mudcat skunk experts, ask them.

G

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: gnu
Date: 12 May 08 - 02:37 PM

Ah... if you live trap a wild skunk, just how are you or anyone else gonna de-stink it without gettin stunk?

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 12 May 08 - 02:44 PM

Get it drunk?

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: gnu
Date: 12 May 08 - 03:00 PM

Only if you put the booze in the cage before you trap it.

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: Bobert
Date: 12 May 08 - 03:00 PM

WYSuzie,

The P-Vine de-balled me about 6 years ago... lol...

Ahhhh, as fir movin' the catfood, that ain't in the cards... We have a ferrel cat and a domesticated outdoor only cat who ain't welcome in the real house so we feed 'um in the mudroom and leave the door open up until 'bout 10:00 at night... Feedin' 'um outside is a pain, too because that draws the racoonies who dig up the P-Vine's pl;ants which makes her very cranky...

It's a delimma... If we could get the shunk de-stinkercated maybe it could come in the house at night so it wouldn't have to worry 'bout defendin' itself???

Maybe Iz just gonna have to go out into the mudroom when it's in there and have a little talk with it???

I donno???

B~

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 May 08 - 03:09 PM

Iffen you really love this ol' skunk, Bobert, you could rope it an' break it to harness. Jist imagine walkin' downtown an' a couple o' big nasty fellers start makin' fun of you. Then you jist drop the leash an' say, "Git 'em, Fido!"

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 May 08 - 03:44 PM

Skunks are a common carrier of rabies. I don't remember if they can be given rabies shots, but if they can't, I think there is no point in starting that experiment. Check on those basics before you contemplate the problems of trapping a skunk.

I've seen them in plenty of campgrounds--they're pan-handlers. Usually a handful of gravel tossed their direction is enough to chase them off without a devastating reaction.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: Bobert
Date: 12 May 08 - 03:48 PM

lol, rap...

Ahhhhh, I really think the way to trap it is what G-Man said... Get the sumabich drunk first...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: Sorcha
Date: 12 May 08 - 03:56 PM

De scenting a skunk is a rather tricky op and not all vets will do it. A friend of mine found a live baby, very baby, drowning in the irrigation canal and rescued it. Game and Fish said it was OK to keep it, would make a nice pet. She finally had to drive 700 miles to find a vet that would do the op.

Skunk lived to a ripe old age for skunks, and now she had domestic bred ones, not wild rescues (which STILL have to have the scent glands removed)

Why can't you build a sort of table for the cat food? The cats could jump up on it, the skunk couldn't. Our cat food is on top of the dryer to keep the dogs out of it.

IF you decide to trap it, use the cat food for bait, and prepare to be skunked. I'll bet anything that NO vet in his right mind would do the op on a wild skunk that is already half grown and has NO chance of learning to be a 'pet'.

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: gnu
Date: 12 May 08 - 04:09 PM

Yeees... rabies. Up Kent County, my forefaters killed skunks on site. And others that ate chickens or rabbits or sheep or carried rabies.

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 May 08 - 05:47 PM

Skunk fur makes a pretty sporran.

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: Bobert
Date: 12 May 08 - 06:33 PM

Well, first of all, I really like the skunk and I'd hate for that poor baby to go hungry... He's so cute... I bet if you took off all his hair he'd only be the size of a kitten...

I think I'm gonna get drunk with it one night and all will be well afterwards... I don't care if it stinks as long as it don't spray me...

Back in '70 I was drivin' accross country in a '49 Ford Panel truch which I had built into a camper and had my dog, Whimpy, with me and pulled into a free state park for the night in Indiana and Whipy got nailed by a skunk... No fun... BTW, forget tomato juice... Shoulda just left ther dog there but. no, had to take the flea-bit hound with us and it wasn't until 4 or 5 days later and several baths in rest rooms at gas stations that he smelled like a dog again...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: Sorcha
Date: 12 May 08 - 08:33 PM

Oh yes...ref rabies vacs....vets will sometimes give a skunk a feline rabies vac....with NO garuntee that it actually works. Take your chances.

Yes, Bobert...I KNOW they are cute.....

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 May 08 - 09:27 PM

Only cute until they nail ya.

Wife of my old boss was driving back to her hometown in Ozarks in her Olds 88, air conditioning on. She couldn't understand why none of her family came running out to greet her. Seems like she's hit a skunk and it had landed on top of her engine.... (This was in the late '50s.)

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: GUEST
Date: 12 May 08 - 09:27 PM

I'd try to tame it a bit more, then get it to a vet for shots and a look-over. There have been people who kept pet skunks without descenting them. Just don't keep running up behind it yelling BOO!!

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: Tweed
Date: 12 May 08 - 10:20 PM

Bobertz, the skunk in the mudroom obvimously likes you too and when it goes to the corner wif it's tail up it iz only wanting you to go and pull it as this is great fun for skunks and they like nothing more that to be pulled across a plank floor by thar Peppy le Pew fluffy tails.

I think it is so happy to be gettin' free food from you that spraying yore hillbilly ass with skunk juice is the last thing on it's mind so don't cut his scent glands out, as he will, after while, protect you and yore fambly from drunks carryin' kerosene jugs.

How many Iron Citys you had so far tonite? If it's up around six or nine and the critchure is out there, go and give that tail a tug.

And throw a tennis ball or frisbee at it, as they are great retrievers aslo!

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: Tweed
Date: 12 May 08 - 10:23 PM

And for chrissake's don't shave the poor little bastard to see if it looks like a kitty.

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: Skivee
Date: 12 May 08 - 10:49 PM

Bobert ole pal, I know that there are rabies treatments that can be put in baited food. Maybe you call some of them smart fellers and fellerettes at the university and they'll maybe fix you right up.

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: MarkS
Date: 12 May 08 - 11:56 PM

Skunks and raccoons are a rabies problem here in my NJ county this year. The animal control officer advises leaving them alone, and calling his office if they start hanging around the house or otherwise acting strangely.
Seriously, Bobert, you are running a risk if you try to get too friendly with the critter. Best call your local county control agency and follow their advise.
You don't want to mess with rabies.

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: Skivee
Date: 13 May 08 - 12:54 AM

Now, Bobert ol' pal don't let those sober folks get in the way of you having some quality time with your new stripey buddy.
They make a big deal about Rabies, but can it really be all that bad???
I mean, sure, in the entire recorded history of the human race, only two people have survived an active rabies infection, and one of them was severely brain-damaged by the experience, while the other survived only though a medically induced coma and reducing her body temperature for three months in a procedure that, though it left her with some nerve damage in her extremities, her doctor described as miraculous while readily admitting that it has not been succesfully repeated by other medical teams; that it may have been a fluke unrelated to his experimental procedure. But does that mean that you shouldn't reach out to your forest friends.
On another subject, next time I drop by I'll show you this trick I learned to teach a black bear to eat Jimmy Dean Breakfast Sausage dipped in honey from your teeth. It'll be really funny on those video shows.

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: Bobert
Date: 13 May 08 - 06:57 AM

Geeze, folks... So much to ponder...

I ain't worried none by rabies 'cause I can tell if a skunk 'er raccon has rabies 'cause they act kinda funny when they have it... You know, like givin' up their nocternal - that means nighty time stuff - instincts (bad word) and go 'round in the day time gettin' unner yer car and behind yer trash cans... That is rabies... If they ain't doin' that then they is clean of rabies and it's safe to pull 'um by their tails...

I fell asleep last night watching "I Love Lucy" reruns an' missed the little feller's visit but I got plenty of ice cold Iron City fir tonight so things outta be fun... or not...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: Rapparee
Date: 13 May 08 - 08:50 AM

Bobert, rabies ain't that bad. They've had a cure for it fer a long time. Louie Pasture invented it over in France. Twenny-one shots into yer stomach, with a needle and not by a glass, given in twenny-one days, will usually almost always fix ya right up, most of the time. They don't even use the same hole each time. As fer that brain damage and nerve damage, how could they tell and I've heard yer gittar playin' so agin, how could they tell? Why doncha invite Tweed up for a little skunk-catchin' party? You could let him grab the critter an' you could hold the sack.

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 May 08 - 09:39 AM

Here in Texas they scatter rabies vaccine in bait and spread it over the countryside by helicopter. Maybe you can send away for some of that and put it in the cat's food dish. But by the time the critter is acting out its disease it is fully engaged.

Go by the library and pick up a copy of Their Eyes Were Watching God (Zora Neale Hurston) for a particularly effective description of rabies in a human.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: Bobert
Date: 13 May 08 - 11:52 AM

We got somethin' better... Its the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service and these folks know everything there is to know about any kinda critters... I'll go talk with them... 'R better yet, I'll have the Tweezer come on up and grab the little feller and we'll take it down to them folks fir a good look over... But he/she looks purdy healthy so I don't think that Iz gonna have to get 21 tummy shots...

Why 21, Rap... Won't 18 or so do the trick???

B~

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: SINSULL
Date: 13 May 08 - 01:46 PM

Leave the poor thing alone. He isn't bothering the cats. Just stay out of hiw way.

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: Bobert
Date: 13 May 08 - 02:08 PM

Sins,

You know the ol' hillbilly ain't dumb 'nuff to mess wid a skunk... But we'll keep giving it it's own little bowl of catfood and watch it thru the storm door...

I used to have two possums back in Wes Ginny, Kibbles 'n Bits, that had their own bowls right outside the sliding door and they'd come and have their catfood every night 'bout 9:00...

An' when I was a boy I had a pst squirrel that I founf as a baby an' raised it up... It lived in a bird cage in my bedroom... I never closed the door so it was free to roam the house and outdoors..

I just like animals an' like to feed 'um and see that they have nice places to live...

Okay, I don't like groundhogs 'er deer 'cause they get into the gardens and cause lotta damage but all other critters is fine wid me... Lot better behaved than alot of folks I know, come to think of it...

I think it would be cool to have a house skunk but this guy is prolly too wild by now so we'll just be like, ahhhhh, friends...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: gnu
Date: 13 May 08 - 02:09 PM

It has been my experience that staying out of any wild animal's way is sometimes happenstance and, therefore, can lead to an unhappy circumstance, depending on it's stance.

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: Rapparee
Date: 13 May 08 - 04:31 PM

'Cuz that's what Big Louie Pasture said, Bobert. Since you lived in WV it'll probly take 42 of them shots.

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: wysiwyg
Date: 13 May 08 - 05:50 PM

When you get it live-trapped just send it to DC as a special White House presentation.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: Bobert
Date: 13 May 08 - 06:57 PM

Now there's an idea...

Subject: RE: BS: De-Stinkin' a Skunk Question???
From: gnu
Date: 13 May 08 - 07:06 PM

Best one yet.