Need help Skunks how to catch

Need help Got a call from a peanut mill today they have skunks they want caught. I have never caught a skunk, not sure how to do it. will they go in live traps and what should I use for bait?
I'm not sure what I should charge they are 40 miles from me one way. you help will be greatly appreciated.

Cage traps, wrapped. Protein/meat based baits since they are mousing at the mill. With skunks you "match the hatch" on baits. Look for dig unders or places they are living under and set positive sets. Barring that think like an armadillo and find travel routes/bottlenecks and drift fence them into the cages.

That would be 425-650 for me depending on job size.

Cage traps are the way to go. Covered. The 7x8x24 Safeguards are as good of a size as I've found but anything from that size up to raccoon size will work.

They are very attracted to fish. Jack Mack or fish flavored cat food should do you well. Cheese is also a good choice, as are peanuts/peanut butter. I'd try all three, fish, cheese and peanuts just to cover the bases.

A commercial job like that could result in yearly business so treat them well. I'd try to work it out so that I'd get $100/day but I'd have to be catching plenty of skunks.

Skunks are pretty easy to catch. Set lots of traps. They love the edges. They travel along walls, both inside and out.

I would think $100/a day is not enough. That would be a good trip fee. Then charge for each animal also.

Also, decide what you are going to do with the skunks after you catch them.

Yep, I was overlooking the distance. That would need to be taken into account.

Thanks guys for your help it is greatly appreciated

You might try a drift fence or two with double door cages. Could use some bait with it too. Any openings anywhere under buildings? dig-outs under fences etc.? pinch points?

Two books Innovative Skunk Control by Rob Erickson and Odorless Skunk Removal by Bob Noonan. Good places to start.

A skunk is living under a round steel grain silo that sits on a concrete pad. One hole was plugged and it dug out another one, which was plugged and it dug another one. Live traps in the vicinity did not work. I plugged all holes except one and dug in a live trap and covered it with boards and dirt except for the end. The skunk dug out another hole. I believe this must be a very cautious female with young. My next plan is to fence in an area about 8 feet in diameter around the hole and place two live traps as the only exits from this enclosure. Maybe it would just dig under the enclosure, but my thought was that if it was outside above ground it wouldn't at least return under ground and dig out a fresh hole. I don't need to catch it, I just want it to leave. Thoughts?

Are the live traps double door?

The trap I buried is not double door but is wire mesh so there is "light at the end of the tunnel". (I didn't cover the end)

Ole,

I may be missing this but are the holes being dug from the outside going in or vice versa?

This just related to if a female with a litter she would be trying to dig in to the litter. Versus a male or female simply trying to dig out when you are blocking the route out with trap or debris/fence.

We do a lot of controller one way doors and with a camera to document behavior and backup sign when we come back to remove and seal up. Generally the door doesn't go in until we've checked the Crawlspace or area when possible for litters. Seasonally this is a tougher thing to discern or not run into issues with.

Is their issue with the odor from the skunk spraying something or another concern? If you think possibly it is a litter can you get them to hold off or exclude, live trap? With houses people of course aren't always keen to wait but outbuildings and such I've had more folks not that fired up about now versus a couple of weeks of young are in question.

Anyway holes dig from inside or out?

The skunk has excavated a hole under a round concrete pad that has a round corrugated grain bin on it. This is a storage "building" 40 yards from the house. The lady filled in a hole and covered it with plywood. The skunk then dug another hole which the lady filled in with rocks and dirt. The skunk then dug another hole to get out. I put two live traps within 6 feet of this hole and put dead grass in the hole. Next morning the grass had been trampled but nothing in the traps. I then buried a cage trap next to the hole and covered the whole thing with boards and dirt except for the end of the trap so light would be visible there. The skunk dug a new hole to get out from under the concrete pad. Some time this spring there had been a fair amount of dirt excavated out from under the pad by the critter, but the recent holes have all been made from the inside. There hasn't been a smell issue and I've tried to steer the lady towards waiting until the young are mobile. I'm pretty sure this must be a cautious female.

"Turtleman it."

If turtlemanning doesn't work, a true double door might. I think some see the mesh at the end and decide they aren't going through the trap when a single door is placed over the hole. And then some don't and walk right in.

Yep, I think I need to add a double door to my arsenal. thanks

I had a similar experience dealing with "country" skunks under a house! They don't seem to be as easy to catch as urban skunks getting fat and sassy on our garbage and pet foods left out. The first one did NOT want to get caught using a positive set with a nose cone and a wire-triggered double drop door trap. It did exactly as yours is doing. After many frustrating attempts at blocking its dig outs, I figured I wasn't giving it enough room at the nose cone. Instead, I constructed a nose-cone/drift fence using a larger wire-triggered Advanced Guillotine Double-door trap. Caught a total of 4 skunks using this technique. The trench to bury and stake the welded-wire fence in the pic below leading to the trap was not necessary as I never saw any signs of the skunks attempting to dig under or avoid the trap. Worked like a charm for me.

Do you wrap the cage trap so the skunk doesn't see you or what's the reasoning behind that?

You folks put a lot more work into catching some critters then I do apparently. That is what trailing scent is used for to help guide the animals route of travel into a trap. Subtle guiding is beneficial however crowding and forcing isn't good at times as some situations will reveal.

Positive sets work well with some animals but others will refuse the presentation at times, particularly skunks. Give them some space and something of interest and they will usually be very predictable.

Anytime there's a chance I'll catch a skunk, I'll use a covered trap. I don't want him to spray me!!! Of the 4 skunks I caught, one still managed to squirt his essence between the openings left for the triggering mechanism on top of the Advanced Trap I used.

Thank you Bob J I was dying!!!!!!

Aggie73, My situation looks somewhat like your picture and giving the critter "room to roam" inside an enclosure after it exits the hole was what my next move will be if I can't talk the homeowner into waiting until young are out and mobile. Bob J, I had two traps within 6' of the hole at first with some dog food nuggets and Trix cereal scattered in front which was eaten (unless voles got it first) so I'm reasonably certain the skunk just refused to enter either. I think I need a camera.

I agree with Bob on this one. Keep it simple.

Of course there are always those few "special" critters that test our wits, but I find skunks to be quite easy to catch in situations where they are under a structure.

It is often possible to place 2 double-door traps along the structure, and place a board along the outside of the traps. As they exit their hole, they go right or left into one of the traps. I use a couple buttered popcorn puffs in each trap.

At this particular home, I caught 9 adult skunks from this location this February. 5 were caught in the posi-set traps, the other 4 in baited PVC traps along the porch edge.

Usually don't catch that many adults at one site, but always have the same effectiveness using this very simple set-up, with almost zero dig-arounds.

This pic shows a double-door (skunk inside) and a single door placed with openings towards the hole. Board along outer edges of traps. I ran out of 2-door traps so used a single on one side. Skunk was in the 2-door, which may indicate they take the route most open.



Same day, same set-up. Had a skunk in the 2-door at entry/exit hole, and another in the baited trap at corner of porch. I use the PVC traps almost exclusively for skunk work, and never have issues with refusals, whether posi-set or open baited. Very odd how so many people say they have no luck with the 6-inch PVC skunk trap.

My experience with another female that dug under a foundation with young was that she wouldn't enter a baited live trap. Had to dig one in and cover it so she had to go through the trap to get out. Are all females with young this cautious? I have the lady talked into letting them grow and leave. They will likely be back this late fall to den so might have to remove them then.