Great point. Heck I have no idea where to poke or what not to cut . I think I saw a larger plastic part I may be able to put the needle on. He is not a small as I thought maybe medium tail is thin not something I thi k I want to tan will look closer.

I wouldn't use less than a 15 cc syringe. That is about 1/2 oz. That should hold enough for an avg draw on one pod to not have to worry about running short of room in the syringe.

You want to avoid poking more than once on a draw into one pod. You can get extra bleed from that other poke hole when inserting into another part of the pod to draw again.

Unload and poke the 2nd pod and extract. Etc

So where to poke and how deep

YouTube is your friend here. I find I poke too deep and have to back the needle out a bit to get flow started after I apply suction. The pods are basically on either side of the vent. You can feel and see them if you make a cut. I have only extracted the essence whole the pods are still attached. I haven’t tried removing them yet in fear of puncturing, I have an extremely nice skunk with an almost white back caught this morning. I didn’t have time to skin before work so put in freezer for now. Hopefully pick up another or three by end of weekend and do them all at once.

I got a white one yesterday and a black one today. I had a Dr's appointment today so I'm gonna try and skin them tonight.

Wife picked up bigger syringes and needels and gloves.

She got2 glass bottles. One is 2oz and has a screw on metal lid the other is one oz and has a cork . I like the one oz size better but think the metal would be better for a lid good night she got 16 g needels seem to big to me will have to use the two small 22g I guess. The sharp part on the 81 may be to big for the pod?

I'm guessing I should not do this in the kitchen. .

I'm guessing your correct!!

Outside on a windy day works the best. The 22ga needles can’t handle the mustard fat. Keep in mind syringes are cheap I have the 10cc for sleepy time and 20 and 35cc for extracting the stink. One poke allows suction the pod will collapse as you draw milk the pods with your thumb to push the mustard out into the syringe.

I cut my pods from the carcass before extracting the essence. You can poke any center mass part of the pod. I prefer to insert about 1/2 way down the pod to allow a good draw syringe position. You will need both hands to do this well. One on the syringe and one on the plunger to draw back. You can move the needle around a little to extract all the mustard if necessary and massage the drained pod to help this along.

I use 16 gage x 3/4" needles. I remove the pods before skinning and then extract the juice.

Skunk juice is a strong acid and will eventually eat through the metal lids. Never used cork but I do not think it would do a good job of containing the scent.

And skunk juice will eventually degrade the rubber in the syringe even if you rinse well after each use.

First extraction ever used the 16g. One side 7cc the other about 8cc.

So should I try to keep the pods and what are they good for?

Here is a set off of a 12lb skunk compared to a average size pod. My first cuts are from the tail base under the hide around the bung then the normal leg cuts with the regular money cut. Peel back the flaps on each side of the tail while cutting away from the pods at a slight angle. Trim the fat that's around the pods that holds them in place, the muscles around the pods are a dull red the pods themselves are glossy red. Pull on the tabs you will have cut the intestine finish trimming and you ready to tap the pod.

Yes grind and age the pods to make sweet skunk. Those look like China needles find some Monoject US made ones for the poke times the China ones empty way to easy with less pressure.

Id say you did not remove the pods since you did not get any noticeable mustard.

Law Dog, do you prefer the poly hub or aluminum hub needles for extraction?

They don’t seem to make a difference I go through needles and syringe set ups pretty fast I find trying to be cheap always cost me more in the end. Dull needles or sticky syringes will get you sprayed trying to poke through tough hides. Sticky syringes on the draw can lose the plunger rubber and that’s a stinking expensive mess also. Those 35cc syringes are hard to max out saving you a messy repose, yes a bit more expensive but in the end worth it.

No law dog I didn't remove them there is some mustard. In guess I may have got more volume if I removed them?

Sounds like I need to read up on lure making if I'm going to get brave enough to mess with skunks and glands. This time off is good for me. May be contagious and I'm going to have to stop working so many of my days off. Now if I could find someone close to work with the boys on putting up fur. . then we would run a good line and send off a truck load to be tanned

I’d say removing the pods will gain you 10-20% more essence like anything else in trapping there hundreds of ways to do things that you learn over time. A few guys complain about the mustard but that’s the gift that keeps on giving in my opinion. You get essence on your clothes wash them a few times you get hit with that mustard burn the duds. Some bottles will end up with 20-25% mustard in a 4oz jar.

You had a lot of tension going on when doing the removal I’d bet but after a while it’s just another job.

Thanks for all the responses. Since posting me and my coworker have had a run on skunks. He didn't want to mess with the stink so I was the benefactor of the carcasses. So far I have right around 5 oz of skunk essence, with 2 oz coming from one skunk.