im doing a favor for some friends of mine (thier paying my gas)
trying to trap skunks from under a 8 x 20 concrete porch in
front of thier house.i set up 3 cage traps at the 3 entrances
that they dug under said porch, with no luck in 4 days. day 1
set up with dog food w/ bacon grease,rained that turned to snow
,day 2&3 snowed two feet,day 4 snow is starting to melt,reset
with dog food and jack mack,,,one sprung trap...so my question
is,,, is this just a waiting game till the weather gets better
and they get hungery? or im i doing something wrong?
any comments would be greatty apprechated!!! thx brad

If its to cold they may den up for a while, just keep looking for tracks in the snow,or if the snow melts put some poly fil or newspaper in the holes to see if there coming out.Any of the baits you have used should catch your skunks.....B....

Nose cone or funnel your trap set ups to ensure a positive movement into the traps and you will have a sure thing as soon as they move again if they are in fact in the burrows.

When not sure I set 2 or more facing the opposite direction also, close to the burrows to catch those that may attempt to enter the burrows from other areas of approach.

so its kinda a waiting game,,,theres a real strong smell under the slab,could this be from juevinille (sp) skunks spraying?
how many will den up together? And how long can they stay denned up? thanks agian for the replies! brad

I've used bacon grease with vanilla extract mixed in with good results. With the weather your having though it does sound like a waiting game.

Has this smell persisted for over 3 days ?

If you are smelling skunk for an extended period of time , the skunk might be dead. Time to get a shovel and start digging.

I have pulled more than one skunk mummy from under concrete porches. One of the hints to a dead skunk is that they smell it worse after a rain or other changes in weather. In our area it isn't uncommon for a skunk to abandoned a den under a porch after spraying. Positive sets are the way to go if you don't have nose cones use hardware cloth to create a one way, this set is one of the few we use double door traps to catch coming or going.

sorry i didnt resond sooner , was watching the broncos lose,,,
yes the home owners have been smelling skunk,for about 8 days
straight,i smell it pretty strong, havent seen any sign,
tracks, nothing. is it time to dig or hold off for a few days?
please explain the nose cone,,, ive got them blocked to go
only in the trap. thanks brad

If the smell has been strong for 8 days , it might be time to do some digging.

Before digging see what you can see in any gaps or places of access with a very powerful flashlight and a mirror. Follow your nose as well. Remember to look for a piece of an animal. You may only see some fur or one limb exposed instead of the whole animal out in the open. Look carefully for signs of burrows or even a crude nesting area.

Sometimes this can be very difficult due to the type of construction. A long extendable pole with some type of hook on the end can sometimes save the day by dragging the carcass to you.

Typical places to look are where it is the hardest access usually close to the ground. Animals will pick the most inaccessible areas for security.

Here's a couple pics from a crawlspace on a very new home.... every time it rained or humudity was high, the homeowners could not stand to be in the home. Their clothes in the closets smelled like skunk spray, and curtains and carpeting were horrible. They had a small gap under a deck which had a "drop-in" entry into the crawlspace. Once the skunks fell in, there was no way out.

I found 2 badly rotted and decomposed carcasses (bones and some fur).... removed them, deodorized, disinfected. Problem solved. I didn't even even touch them, but the odor was so bad down there that when I returned home my wife "kicked me out" of the house.... she said I got sprayed. Nope.... that's how bad it was under that home.

what do you guys use to disinfect and deodorize the area after
you remove the problem? i think im going to have to go fishing
for a corpse,and its like a 50 mile round trip, so if i can take
care of everthing at once, would be great.
id like to thank everyone that chimed in on this topic,you have
been a great help! wish me luck,and thx agian. brad

www.Wildlifecontrolsupplies.com has a few disinfectants like DDG and deodorizers like Citrus Neutrox or Epolean. These all work good , everybody has their favorites, WCS staff can help you pick out one to suit your needs. 1-877-684-7262

I use Citrus Neutrox.


-Important-

You MUST remove the source of the smell. 90%-95% of odor control is to remove the source ( carcass ). If you do not remove the source using an odor control product is almost worthless. A lot of times just removing the source will correct the problem with no odor control products needed.

Do you price a job like that per carcass or per nasty shovel full??

this has gotta the be the skunk from he**,over the weekend i caught one cat and one squirrel, and in both cases this EXCITED mr. stink bomb,and he has yet come out to play,,,can you smoke them out?,,, any tricks would be greatly apprechated,
in my last post ,i though maybe he was taking a dirt nap,but now i think hes ordering out pizza! still no sign but plenty
of smell. thx again. signed: DOWN AND OUT IN DENVER,,,lol