How to Kill a Skunk!!!! Damn they stink...

I live on the first floor of an apartment building and literally 0.5 feet from my window, a skunk comes every night. I guess looking for food in the bush or something. I wanna lay down some poison or something to get rid of this thing. Or set a trap.

Anyone know where I can get a trap or some poison for cheap?
What poison should I use? I was trying to be real cheap and dip some bread in bathroom cleaner or sumn, possibly ammonia?

If you have any other suggestions that would be good to... post em..

I'm sure that there are plenty of ways to get rid of a friendly animal.

Why do you humans always have the tendency to destruct and kill ?

reply to post by hueyfreeman77


Uhh... what you're proposing sure seems illegal.

Huh huh... Naw.. He has to die... I dont want him coming back.... And here in PA, they are overpopulated so it would be better for the community this way.

I was watching the Discovery Channel and they said a skunk can't spray unless it's hind legs are on the ground.
They say if you pick the skunk up by the tail it can't spray at all, so you can just pick him up and carry him by the tail to the park. Problem solved.
I know this sounds like a joke but I swear it's true, google it.

Setting up poisons like this is for sure illegal. Especially unmarked poisons. If you're sure about this, try finding the rodent poisons for industries. The problem is you're killing everything around you.

Now personal suggestion would be to ask land owner or any type of property owner to rid of this problem or just leave.

Killing a skunk cause it smells is like me killing you because you want to rid of the problem in this way.

reply to post by hueyfreeman77


Not to mention poisons are a danger to kids and pets.
Humane trap and call animal control is what I'd do.

reply to post by Trublbrwing


I searched it and didn't get reassuring results.

Fiction: A skunk cannot spray when held up by its tail.

Fact: Apparently this is still up in the air (no pun intended). Sometimes a skunk will spray when held up by its tail... sometimes it won't. It appears to depend on the individual. The big question is: What provokes some skunks to spray when held by their tails and others not to? An article by Richard van Gelder [Natural History, Aug. 1990, pp6+] suggests that if a skunk is lifted by its tail BEFORE it gets agitated enough to protrude its 'retractable nipples' then it cannot spray. If lifted after the nipples protrude, then a skunk can successfully spray. Jerry Dragoo (as seen on the 'skunk experts' list on these pages) disagrees with van Gelder and belives it depends on the skunk's personality and perception of danger... 'does it feel threatened enough to use its musk?' [his reply to van Gelder is in Natural History, Oct, 1990, p4 (letters section)].

P.S. It might look cruel, but skunk's tails are strong and picking up a skunk this way shoudn't hurt it as long as you pick it up by the BASE OF THE TAIL
(never the end) and as long as the skunk is not greatly
overweight.

www.holoweb.com...

reply to post by hueyfreeman77


Did you register just to ask how to kill a skunk with bleach?

Huh?

I'd say the best way to take out a skunk would be with the Benjamin Nitro pellet riffle.
Its silent and fires at 495fps.
Its kinda like the sniper of pellet guns.

reply to post by hueyfreeman77
Oh you meant a real skunk, I thought you meant a politician. Well stink & all, sorry my bad.

Originally posted by Fishticon84
I'd say the best way to take out a skunk would be with the Benjamin Nitro pellet riffle.
Its silent and fires at 495fps.
Its kinda like the sniper of pellet guns.

Benjamin Nitro pellet riffle? sounds the way to go.

Originally posted by zirazira

Originally posted by Fishticon84
I'd say the best way to take out a skunk would be with the Benjamin Nitro pellet riffle.
Its silent and fires at 495fps.
Its kinda like the sniper of pellet guns.

Benjamin Nitro pellet riffle? sounds the way to go.

I think its around 1500fps in the states.
Here in Canada, 495fps is the legal limit. Also most of our guns are strange ugly colours like transparent or orange, so they look like space guns(?) or flare guns.

The best advice anyone could give you is to just leave the skunk alone.

If you absolutely insist, this is guaranteed to work and is your best option to discourage the skunk...

First, clean up any garbage outside your home and secure all garbage/recycle bins with tight fitting lids.

What kind of food do you think the skunk is looking for in the bush outside your apt in May?

Dry out and grind up a few oz's of habanero pepper then sprinkle the pepper around the general area you want to deter the critter. It shouldnt take long to discourage the skunk into finding a new food bush outside a different window.


Regarding traps, you can often borrow/lease humane box traps from local Dept. of Animal Control, veterinarians and sometimes pet stores.

In my opinion, this is a bad idea for your situation.

These traps are open wire mesh cages, if you think the smell is bad now it will be 1000 times worse for you if the skunk feels threatened and starts spraying outside of your window (not to mention worse for your neighbors as well. You remember, the neighbors who had the common sense to leave the skunk alone


DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE START RANDOMLY MIXING HOUSEHOLD CLEANERS.

Chlorine gas, hydrazine and nitrogen trichloride are the very real, very toxic product of combining various solutions of ammonia and bleach (which most cleaners are based around).

The frightening part is your neighbors have no clue you are entertaining such thoughts....


DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE USE POISONED BAIT.

Humane argument aside and the odds of Karma bringing you back as a sidewalk fungus in a future life aside..

It is only legal for licensed pest control applicators to set poisoned bait traps in most municipalities, both the fish and game and animal control would most likely be interested in speaking with you if you were identified.

Secondly,Poisoned bait is indiscreet.

Any type of bait box big enough to allow a skunk access will be cat sized as well.
There most likely is a much larger pet cat than feral skunk population in your apts.

Regardless of your feelings toward the skunk, you have no right to endanger your neighbors pets by risking 3 or 4 poisoned housecats while working your way to the skunk.


DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE ENTERTAIN THE DEATH BY .177 CALIBER PELLET SUGGESTION.

Leaving the basic cruelty argument to the side for know..

Common sense is not shooting an air rifle in your apartment complex, at its most basic, the neighbors will show extreme disfavor towards anyone responsible for them having to replace windshields, headlamps, patio doors etc...

Most probably there is an ordnance in place prohibiting the discharge of air rifles in your community. In this day and age its safe to say if somebody sees you shooting anything remotely resembling a gun they will likely call the police.

You will certainly be ticketed and lose your pellet gun to the police evidence locker.

You may be arrested, depending on local regulations you could be charged with a felony.

Lastly, for good measure, the management will have cause (and possibly no choice) to evict you and your family.


The skunk really hasn't harmed you in any way and will most likely move on.

To be truthful I think the most likely outcome is some combination of you wishing you had never bothered the critter and the skunk going about its business as before.

I've had a family of skunks living under my house before and they were never a problem - just don't ever surprise or scare them. They really are mellow little animals and not aggressive at all. Some people actually love the smell of skunks (like ME!)

The food they eat are bugs and grubs in the ground. They are actually helping your lawn by eating the grubs and aerating the soil. If you can kill the bugs the skunks will leave.

Perhaps you could rent a great horned owl - they are the only predator of skunks besides man.

Should you set traps or poison you might end up killing someone's dog or cat.

I dont think its a good idea to try and approach any wild animals especially to grab them by the tail.

Wild animals are incredibly strong and will fight back if attacked.

Skunks are known to carry rabies so if you get bit or scrached its a trip to the hospital for you.

I googled " How to get rid of skunks" and got 302,000 results!

I have live trapped one by accident then I had to shoot him to get near the cage. Sad.

I only wanted to relocate a couple of squirrels.

I have a skunk, I'm on 10 acres. He doesn't go into the dog's area (penned off 1/2 acre) anymore, and they get along great with cats. The one time I saw him in the dog's area, I just kept my distance and told it to get out of there, and it did almost like it knew what I said. I told the woman who I bought the house from, and she said the skunk has been there for years.

I rarely even notice him, he wanders around the yard sometimes. He doesn't bother us, and they only spray when scared. I've hardly ever smelled him in 4 years of being here.

DO NOT PUT OUT POISON!!!!

You'll only end up harming or killing someone's pet.
Very illegal, and if caught, depending on the laws where you are, huge fine, jail time, and very angry neighbours.

DO NOT SHOOT IT!!!!

It'll stink to high heaven for weeks :shk:

Trap it humanely, or ignore it.

I suggest purchasing a Havahart live trap and bait it with a can of moist cat food. Then contact animal control to pick up and relocate the skunk. In fact, animal control may have loaner traps that can be issued to you, so you may want to contact them first.

Havahart: www.havahart.com...

Why was your first thought to kill it???

It doesnt sound like hes bothering you in any real way other than being there.

I in no way consider myself a hippie or greenie or any other of those types of things but cruelty to animals make me sick and wanting to kill something coz its near you (even when harmless) I personally find sad.

Call animal control or the RSPCA or whatever you guys have there

Originally posted by Asktheanimals
I've had a family of skunks living under my house before and they were never a problem - just don't ever surprise or scare them. They really are mellow little animals and not aggressive at all. Some people actually love the smell of skunks (like ME!)

The food they eat are bugs and grubs in the ground. They are actually helping your lawn by eating the grubs and aerating the soil. If you can kill the bugs the skunks will leave.

Perhaps you could rent a great horned owl - they are the only predator of skunks besides man.

Should you set traps or poison you might end up killing someone's dog or cat.

I forgot about the owl. You can purchase a plastic owl decoy at most sporting goods stores, they have hawks also. Believe it or not these things really work.