First skunk job ever..set today

I got the call... Did some small talk then went for the price....she said ok.
Went to inspect. It was very clear skunks were here. The lady's house smell like skunk!!
I think I found the den going under the house. (Slab)
I made 3 cage sets..... I don't have the tube traps so goin with what I got.
Lets hope I catch one!
Do they run in 2s or more or singles.
Wish me luck tomorrow if I got skunks caught. I am bringing my video camera in case everything goes very wrong and I end up getting sprayed.

Good luck, Richard!

Looking forward to your update!

Good luck!

You can often get more than one skunk from a den. Keep resetting 'til they're gone.

Good luck, I hope you do not smell when you come back! :>)

It is skunk breeding season around here right now. Here, there is usually one female being pursued by quite a few males. Even after removing the female, her pheromones linger in the area for quite some time, attracting additional males. I always try to set up a few positive catch traps to catch anything exiting the access hole and a couple more set to catch anything trying to get in. I have caught as many as 12 from one house. Only two or three were caught exiting.

Good luck.

Ok, I followed the steps I have learned on here and Lt's site... From sets, to bait, to what to look for and even the approach to the cage without getting sprayed. I set up a video camera incase it went horribly wrong. I figured I could become a YouTube star!!!
I caught a huge skunk!, everthing went exactly as many of you have descibed. the customer was so happy. I still have 3 cages out there to see if there are any others.

Thanks "team"!

Congratulations!

See, skunks aren't all that scarey. lol

Great, lets see the video!

Good job, my first skunk job I couldn't catch him until I caught every cat squirrel and rabbit in the neighborhood and then crawled up under the house and hand grabbed him. After I realized he was dead, of course. That is a smell you need to remember.

Awesome Richard! Congratulations.

2 more skunks this morning. They both sprayed before I got there.....wasnt that bad though because the wind was blowing.
Still have 3 traps out. I will put the video on here if I can figure it out.

Congratulations Richard, you should buy a couple "Double door" skunk traps from Kirk at http://www.advancedtrap.com/ The double door version has made me more money... Plus no spraying involved.

Scott

Not sure if you are doing this but I cover my traps when I set them out for skunks. Have not had them spray in a covered trap. John Pearson sells some made from corrugated plastic but I made my own. Gas stations and grocery stores will give you the outdoor signs that they are done with. Cut to size and ziptie together so they fold around your trap. I just make sure that the white side is out. Have never had anyone notice the inside, they are easy to clean and look proffessional.

Scott
Do you set those up as blind sets at the he, or do you run them baited?

Update. Another skunk this morning. Total of 4.
Thanks for the great advise guys. I do plan on either making covers or getting some skunk specific traps. I just started in the adc business 3 months ago so I am very limited on adc type equipment and I am trying to use what I have to do jobs but buy new equipment with the money I make.

I really do need a better plan for the skunks because putting the sheet over them is just a pain. However, i got my wife to go with me today and I taked her into putting the sheet over the cage while videoed. It was pretty funny.
What is they best way to upload a video to this forum?

Richard:
#4 that is great, I thought you had videoed the first skunk that sprayed. No need to have your wife video you doing it. Good idea of getting the right traps now instead of later.

I have some skunk traps made out of 8" green tube. I relly like them. I had a couple of the 6" ones. They were too small for large males.

Everet
I videoed all of them just because I didn't know what to expect so I truly wanted it on video if it went wrong just so my friends and family would have a good laugh. Fortunately all 4 removals went smooth.

Btw.. Update. No # 5. Now I am preparing a bid to do the exclusion work.

I started liking the skunk work. . Pretty easy.

Richard, I like skunk work too. Most people are so afraid of them it's nice to be able to help them out. They're actually fairly friendly little animals.

It's hard to know how many you're going to get out of the den and how many you'll get coming to the den. There will be a lot of males visiting that den during breeding season even when all the females are gone. You don't want to get one stuck in there.

Keep at it. There's plenty of money in skunks.

Yes they are pretty laid back creatures.
Yeah since this was my first skunk job, I was shocked every morning when my client would call me and say, "you got another one!"

I think your right... there could be good money in the skunk biz!

Check our the other link I posted of my wife covering a skunk to relocate . Very funny!!!!

Blind sets ... I have 4 of them now, Best Skunk Trap out there by Far!

Well. Final update.
I told her that the deck needed to be closed in with lattes or something. The hole needs to be filled in and told her I could give her a bid. She said yes please. Next day gave her a bid that I though was a little high but is my first bid so I have to be safe and bid high. She said... When can you start? Starting it Monday.
So My first skunk job was about 7 miles from my house so the 3 days I drove over there to get the 4 skunks was very profitable with very little overhead. The exclusion job is very little supplies and a few hours and I have performed a great service an I have been paid handsomely for it. I just need 2 of those a week and I would be in good shape.

I would not use lattis. Skunks, coons, groundhogs will go right through wood or plastic. Good heavy wire is the only thing that will keep them out. Maybe put lattis over the wire for looks.

Thanks jim,
I am going to tell the customer that wire should be added.

1/3 inch hardware cloth from the bottom of the deck, buried 1 ft deep with a 90 degree bend, 1 ft wide along the bottom. If they dig down they encounter wire and qive up. Straight down wire they will dig under.