Rural Grubbing Skunks

I've been doing some skunk grubbing work in newer rural housing additions and private residences. Anywhere from a couple acres to 80 acres. Often an acre or two of mowed lawn. Areas being torn up range from a small pocket to patches spread all over the yard. I have some success with plain old baited cages and some using snow fence to help them find the traps. Bait range from marshmallows as a visual with popcorn and cheetos as teases along with an ADC product (peaches and cream, grubstake, liquid grub, honey gland, etc.). I still have trouble with animals digging within 20 to 30 feet of cages and showing no interest (or maybe willingness) to cooperate.

On my current set up, I caught one the first night I set up my snow fence set-up and the next two nights they just dug out in front of it. I extended the fence further out to encompass this new target area and we'll see what tomorrow brings. I've now removed three animals in a week of effort at this location.

Anybody have any thoughts of additional measures I could take to increase success? I also have a bit of trouble knowing when to quit, as it seems the surrounding areas are likely rife with skunks and more could move in and start digging anytime after I leave. Thoughts?

I appreciate this board and look forward to some discussion.

webfoot, we haven't had a real grubbing problem for more than a decade but I am looking forward to grubbing one of these years. I can

usually pick the direction the skunks are coming from so I'm anxious to try Comstocks that are not only baited, but fenced. When we

have grubs, the skunk digging pales in comparison to the raccoon damage. Skunks can actually smell and hear each individual grub.

Raccoons use the "Plow up the entire lawn and eat whatever falls out" method. On the plus side, they seem to always have room for

what ever bait is in the cage,too.

Be careful what you wish for, Paul, these grubbers will drive you crazy.

I've thought the same thing about the skunks targeting individuals versus just tilling up the lawn. That said, are any ADC baits made from grubs or imitate their odor? My take on the ones I've used so far is that they are maybe just used for grubbing situations and are not made from or imitate the actual grubs. Any bait makers want to comment?

There is both raccoon and skunk damage on this lawn. One raccoon was removed and all subsequent damage has been skunk.

Big storm last night and now new activity. Freshened up trailing scent and we'll see what happens tonight...they should be hungry after holing up last night.

It's work, but you should make bigger drift fences. Don't give them any option but to go into the trap. Make. Giant square and have a trap on each side. Encompas the grubbing area.

In my experience, which is not the largest, bait selection is rarely the problem, but location. That being said, if I were to switch bait it would be for a protein rich bait. You maybe able to buy grubs at a tack shop

Thanks, Throw Back. I agree, need more fence. Picked some more up last night. I take a 4 foot roll and cut down in thirds to make it go farther and haven't had any trouble with animals going over it. If I really wanted to fence the whole thing though it would be 100 yards long on one side, which seems excessive. I will expand it further though and see how it goes...

My way of thinking on these jobs is a little bit different, but you knew that already. I figure if I'm a skunk, and I've been

munching on grubs all night long, I'd be looking for a miniature six-pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon to wash them down. Since little

six-packs are hard to find, I've had to go with dessert instead. A skunks favorite dessert is fish paste served on a beautiful white

marshmallow. ( No sweet/sour sauce is needed for this dessert )

The staple for the skunk is mice grubs are kind of a delicacy available only when the conditions are right. I would try mouse based bait and underground available at WCS. It is a grub worm based lure to make the mole work the trap area. I think that would be an attractive grubbing skunk lure. Where I have a lot of skunks I drive around. When I see one I get out and walk him into a hole or usually a culvert. Then I put a cage trap over the hole and leave to look for another. When I come back he is in the trap. I would cover it ahead of time so you can just pick him up and deal with him later.
If I shoot them I do a single lung shot. Repeated shooting or approaching while still alive will cause spraying.

In my case just cocking the hammer of a firearm will cause spraying. When I'm in a gunfight with a skunk, he always wins.

I don't have any trouble walking up to them and covering in cages. I like the more open look as opposed to pre-covered traps. I may have some of MTP's mouse bait from fox trapping I could try - hadn't thought of that. I also have some crayfish paste that I made and might give that a shot - I don't think feral cats are an issue at this location.

No more skunks, but a whelped up female coon today with one young in the same trap. Maybe the young coon are the cause of the "hybrid" damage I am seeing in some areas of the yard that looks a bit more rough than skunk damage and less than the nice neat holes of a skunk. How dependent are the young coon on the mother in mid-August? I left two cages at the catch site to try to start cleaning up the rest of the litter. The landowner is anxious for me to be done as there hasn't been any digging now for a few days, but I'm not convinced that if I leave they won't be back. Anybody care to offer their analysis?

I believe that many females allow the young to stay with her ( and learn cool new things like ripping the bungee cords off of garbage

cans ) until it starts turning cold in fall. Our breeding season isn't until January, so there is no real competition until then.

Thanks for your engagement, Paul.

Nobody else will bite on grubbing skunks? I don't do much nuisance work but wanting to take on a bit more and, around here, I think most of the work will be skunks - especially grubbers. Just thought we could get some discussion going on it...preferred trailing scents baits, cages vs. tubes, etc. Anybody?

I just got a call about skunks digging grubs on a golf course. I don't know exactly the best way to trap a golf course so I just made some sets that I make for early season coon that usually yield skunks. Dog proofs with cat food coated with milk replacer and some with grub worms in the DP. If that dont work im going to make a bait pile and try to pull them into it and trap them there.

If drift fencing is not an option I would think just use more sets.

Location, Location, far more important than bait selection. Location can be hard to pin down with a grubber though, so volume and time I would think.

ninjaswede- Check PM.

An update to the job I originally posted about:

All grubbing has stopped after the removal of 3 skunks and 5 raccoon (one boar, a sow and three kits). The drift fence is definitely a near must for grubbers. Too often I try to avoid it and hope they will come easy, but after becoming thoroughly embarrassed when the yard got torn apart despite by 10 or so cages, I fenced (which was a lot of work for this property) and caught a skunk the first night. Moral of the story - drift fence first whenever feasible.

Also impressed with the ADC baits as the first night I switched to a crayfish paste because I thought there were not feral cats...you guessed it. Grubbing must either be over in my area or the critters are on a hiatus as I haven't had any new calls re lawn damage in three weeks...

One of our technicians reports that Strawberry Oreos are a killer on skunks.

But if you use the Mega-stuffed Oreos, the only grubber you're likely to get is me. I eat about a package a day.

Peanut butter Oreo's never make it to a trap! They usually get dipped in a glass of milk.